Of course there is always more we want to do / be / have / accomplish / it goes on and on…and on. But I believe that the real trick, is in finding what I like to call, optimistic contentment.  What I mean is that while you still have dreams, goals and ambitions (I don’t think we should ever stop having those!) that we also find contentment in who we currently are, instead of believing the lie that we could be content if we only could get to “there”.

“There” is like a mirage, the closer you get the further out it appears.

“You, being yourself, helps others be themselves. Because you recognize your own uniqueness you will not need to dominate others, nor cringe before them.” – Jane Roberts

So what is good in your life today? What is worth your contentment and gratitude?

To cultivate more optimistic contentment in my own life I keep a journal…it’s simple, it doesn’t take much time. But the two most important components of it are to answer these two questions:

1. What act of service have I done to make someone else’s day better? 

2. What positive thing happened to me today? 

Knowing that I have to answer these two questions each day makes me aware of the good. It helps me to be looking for how people are touching my life in positive ways and it get’s me excited to have that same effect on someone else.

In all this focus on getting, are we missing the opportunity to see how much we already have?