I heard it said that contentment is not something you get when everything works out. It is something that comes when you learn how to accept your life.
Accepting what is right now should be easy for me.
Still, there is not an area in my life where I am satisfied.
I want to learn how to play the difficult version of Clair de Lune.
I want to cook stewed chicken the Cuban way without it turning out dry.
I want to lose fifteen more pounds.
I want to finish writing Reckless: The Evelyn Stinson Story.
I want to finish writing The Belated Ballerina.
I want to learn Spanish.
Crochet a blanket big enough for a king-size bed.
And these are just the simple things.
Contentment seems to be lurking in the background, waiting for my task list to be completed.
These things do not just feel like prerequisites to my contentment, but to my happiness.
It is not that I consciously choose to be unhappy. It is that being happy requires reflection. It requires slowing down enough to see and to hear.
But my life has no room for slowing down.
I have convinced myself that once everything is done, my life will be at ease. That I will look back at all of my hard work and finally feel satisfied.
But I cannot help but think that satisfaction goes beyond what we can see.
What if none of these things actually fix what I think they will?
What if I learn Spanish, finish the books, lose the weight, and still find myself reaching for the next thing?
At some point, I have to ask if the problem is not the list, but the belief behind it.
The belief that my life will begin once everything is in order.
But my life is already happening.
And if I cannot learn to be present in it now, I will not suddenly know how later.
If this post spoke to you…
Share it with someone who might need it, too. Whether it’s a quiet encouragement or a new way of seeing things, these reflections are meant to be passed along.
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Martina Griffin is a Catholic convert, writer, wife, and mother of four. She writes about faith, motherhood, beauty, books, and the quiet ache of transformation. A lover of popcorn, deep questions, and old classics, she shares her heart at Big Bowl of Popcorn—one post at a time. Instagram | Facebook | Email Me |
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