Personal Growth Planet Blog

I don’t know about you, but I don’t get too fired up when I think about the word “contentment.” It brings to my mind stereotypical retired folks rocking on their porches or maybe watching great grand kids playing in the yard.

The first images that come to me when I think about “contentment” are actually rather boring. Peaceful, yes. Also, pretty dull.

So many of us long for peace in our busy, hectic, triggering and stressful lives. I am certainly among those who yearn for experiences that are easy, satisfying and even-keeled. Unfortunately, though, when there is no drama and life is sailing along relatively smoothly, it can start to feel mundane and dull. It is in those moments that “contentment” seems unbearable and even restrictive.

Ever feel like you’re spinning your wheels, moving but never quite getting anywhere and especially not getting to where you want to go?

To me, this is the road to nowhere.

Goals are set, plans are made, dreams are dreamt…and yet I seem to stay stuck in the same routine. I don’t appear to be moving anywhere nearer to those aspired places.

Of course, this isn’t entirely true. If I take a step back, I can see that I am actually living the kind of life that I envision. In many ways, it’s exactly the kind of life I have envisioned. I do occasionally reach my goals– especially those “little” ones. But, it doesn’t really feel that way.

I don’t think I know a single person who is ambivalent about Valentine’s Day.

When I hear people talk (and I’m sure there are exceptions), there is generally aversion or excitement to February 14th. There’s rarely anything in between.

Some look forward to passionate celebrating with the one they love.
Others scowl and rant about how this is yet another Hallmark-created holiday.
Yet others grimace at this reminder of how alone or heart broken they feel.

I tend to be a romantic kind of person and so I fall into the “looking forward to it” category. However, like many people, Valentine’s Day is fraught with traps and turmoil for me too.

Whether you are a busy parent, one who is struggling to make ends meet, trying to keep up with endless looming deadlines at work or you are worried about the Earth’s environment, you might find yourself saying words like these:

“There are not enough hours in the day…”
“There’s not enough money in my bank account…”
“There are not enough resources on our planet…”
“There’s not enough of me to go around…”

You may have developed a case of the “not enoughs.”

I’ve heard before messages counseling us all to live in the present moment from wise ones such as Eckhart Tolle and others. These teachings make a lot of sense to me– but rarely do I truly do this for any length of time.

But, after a recent breathwork session led by our dear friends Paula and Christopher Easton, I decided to really put this idea into practice.

At the session, Christopher Easton reminded us to “respond in the present moment.” The very next day– still glowing from my breathwork experience– I began my radical experiment.

How often do you pause and just marvel at the wonders that are this planet?

I know that I don’t very often.

It’s pretty mind blowing to think about what goes on when you put a small seed in fertile soil, add water and sunshine and it magically transforms into something so beautiful and often delicious too.

It is almost beyond my comprehension to contemplate the way that the tides move in and out and that a forest will burn from time to time in order to clear brush and end up healthier in the long run.