Lately I've been doing some studying on Contentment.

My earliest memory of contentment was an ad by the Borden Company staring their spokesperson....."Elsie the Contented Cow". I believe the imagine they were trying to present was that their dairy products were superior because they had "happy cows".

I must have bought into that imagine because most of life I have been a happy cow.

Con/tent/ment n.1.Satisfaction; being pleased: ease of mind; happiness.

For the most part I am a content person. I tend to go about life in the same routine......however I was recently reminded of a quote from Albert Einstein, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results."

So I began to look at situations and scenario's that cause me to be jealous, frustrated, angry, and at times just plain mad at the injustice of it all. These are the conclusions I've come up with:

Complaining: I usually complain when I feel that I am being overlooked, inconvienced, misunderstood, ignored, or dismissed as insignificant.

Comparing: I tend to look at people from a telescope and see all their virtues and then look at my self with all my obvious faults with a microscope. Obviously there will always be people that are better than I am and others not as good.

Competing: (to try hard to win or gain something wanted by others!) I've also noted that this leads to frustration, anger, and disappointment.

Conclusion: Don't complain, don't compare, don't compete.......Sounds pretty simple huh?

What have you discovered that helps you cultivate contentment?