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Contentment
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contentment is a mental or emotional state of satisfaction maybe drawn from being at ease in
one's situation, body and mind. Colloquially speaking, contentment could be a state of having
accepted one's situation and is a milder and more tentative form of happiness.[1]

Contentment and the pursuit of contentment are possibly a central thread through many
philosophical or religious schools across diverse cultures, times and geographies. Siddharta might
have said "Health is the most precious gain and contentment the greatest wealth". John Stuart Mill,
centuries later, would write "I have learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires, rather
than in attempting to satisfy them." Marcus Aurelius wrote "Live with the gods. And he who does
so constantly shows them that his soul is satisfied with what is assigned to them." Hebrews 13:5
reads "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because
God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'"[2] Chinese philosopher Zhuang
Zhou once wrote in the 3rd century BCE (hypothetically) "A gentleman who profoundly penetrates
all things and is in harmony with their transformations will be contented with whatever time may
bring. He follows the course of nature in whatever situation he may be."[3]

The literature seems to generally agree that contentment is maybe a state ideally reached through
being happy with what a person has, as opposed to achieving one's larger ambitions, as Socrates
described by probably saying "He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented
with what he would like to have." That said, there may be a number of elements of achievement
that may make finding a state of personal contentment easier: a strong family unit, a strong local
community, and satisfaction of life's basic needs as perhaps expressed in Maslow's hierarchy of
needs. In general, the more needs in Maslow's hierarchy are achieved, the more easily one might
achieve contentment.

Contents
1 General
1.1 Contentment and positive psychology
1.1.1 Variables that contribute to happiness in research
1.1.2 Satisficer vs. maximizer
1.1.3 Genes
1.1.4 Personality
1.1.5 Goal pursuits
1.1.6 Money
1.1.7 Leisure (also Leisure satisfaction)

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1.1.8 Health
1.1.9 Laughter
1.1.10 Universal social welfare
2 Judaism
3 Islam
4 Eastern religions
4.1 Sikhism
5 See also
6 Footnotes
7 References

General
Many religions have some form of eternal bliss or heaven as their apparent goal, often contrasted
with eternal torment or dissatisfaction. The source of all dissatisfaction appears to stem from the
ability to compare experiences and then infer that one's state is not ideal.

In the Bible, there is an intriguing allegorical account that man's fall from his paradisal state was
caused by man eating the forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Man's
eyes were "opened" to know the distinction between good and evil (Genesis 3
(https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+3&version=KJV)). In other words, when
man becomes intellectually developed to distinguish between good and bad, he realizes that is a gap
between what he considers good or ideal and what he is experiencing. The perception of this
disparity is what creates psychological and physiological tension.

Interestingly, in the Tao Te Ching,[4] this development of man from his primal state of
consciousness called Tao is similarly expounded in this manner: "When the Tao is lost, there is
goodness. When goodness is lost, there is morality ...". Morality as we know is the intellectual
discernment between good and evil. There is therefore a belief that one can achieve contentment by
living "in the moment,"[5] which represents a way to stop the judgmental process of discriminating
between good and bad. However, attempting to live in the moment is difficult because a person's
attention is not only distracted by sensory stimuli but also psychological processes that conspire to
make them think subconsciously or consciously. This thinking process is always involved with
memories; hence, the attempt to stay in the present is a ponderous one given that there is always
this subconscious struggle to break away from memories, especially unhappy ones. For this reason,
specializations in this pursuit to live in the moment are found in various religious and mystical
schools, manifested in forms of meditation and prayer.

A more practical way for most people would be to simply practice contentment as an attitude.
Practicing gratitude is perhaps a way to understand what contentment as an attitude is about. Seen
in this light, contentment is not an achievement but an attitude that one can adopt at any time.

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The American philosopher Robert Bruce Raup wrote a book Complacency: The Foundation of
Human Behavior (1925) in which he claimed that the human need for complacency (i.e. inner
tranquility) was the hidden spring of human behavior. Raup made this the basis of his pedagogical
theory, which he later used in his severe criticisms of the American education system of the 1930s.
However, in the context of present-day society, perhaps the multidimensional leisure culture
evinces in a very significant way the desire of man to return to his core state of contentment by
letting go of his hectic outer activities.

Contentment and positive psychology

In many ways, contentment can be closely associated with the concept of happiness and
satisfaction. In positive psychology, social scientists study what might contribute to living a good
life, or what would lead to people having increased positive mood and overall satisfaction with
their life.[6]

Happiness, in positive psychology, is defined in a twofold manner, which in totality is referred to as

subjective well-being. How much positive emotion (positive affect) as opposed to negative emotion
(negative affect) does a person have, and how ones view one's life overall (global satisfaction) are
the questions asked in positive psychology to determine happiness. Contentment may be more
associated or closely related to a person's level of satisfaction with his/her life (global satisfaction),
but the idea of contentment is certainly intertwined in the concept of what makes people happy.

In the 2014 book Lucky Go Happy : Make Happiness Happen!, Paul van der Merwe uses a chart to
illustrate how being content for long periods of time, can yield more happiness than being ecstatic
during a short period.[7]

Positive psychology finds it very important to study what contributes to people being happy and to
people flourishing, and finds it just as important to focus on the constructive ways in which people
function and adapt, as opposed to the general field of psychology which focuses more on what goes
wrong or is pathological with human beings.[6]

Variables that contribute to happiness in research

Satisficer vs. maximizer

These are two concepts that define the ways in which people make choices. A satisficer is a person
who will make a decision once his/her criteria is met, and a maximizer, on the other hand, won't
make a decision until every possible option is explored.[8]

Genes

There is evidence suggesting that there is a relationship between contentment and genes.[9]

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Personality

Through factor analysis, personality can be narrowed down according to the five factor model,
which holds that there are five aspects of heritable personality traits: openness to experience,
conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Research has shown that
personality is 50% heritable, but not always.[10] There are two aspects of personality which are
related to happiness. There is a strong relationship between extraversion and happiness, in that the
more extraverted a person is (or behaves) the more happy he/she will be. The other aspect of
personality which has a strong relationship to happiness is the genetic predisposition to
neuroticism. The more neurotic (emotionally unstable) a person is, the more likely he/she is to be
unhappy.[11]

Goal pursuits

Reaching goals that are important to oneself and that are in alignment with one's personality can
contribute to feelings of confidence and mastery. It is important to establish goals that are neither
too easy or too hard, but that are optimally challenging. It is also important to note that investing
energy in avoiding goals will contribute to diminishing happiness as well as deter one from
reaching one's goals, which can be quite intuitive to understand.[12]

Money

Many people strongly associate money with happiness, and they believe that being rich will
contribute greatly to making them happier, and the American society reflects this growing
materialism. Although wealth is associated with some positive outcomes, i.e. lighter prison
sentences for the same crime, better health, and lower infant mortality,[13] and can act as a buffer in
certain instances, as mentioned previously, the overall relationship between money and happiness is
marginal.

However, beyond a low threshold where the basic needs are met, money has a very small impact on
happiness. There is also the concept of the diminishing marginal utility of income (DMUI), which
is that money has no effect on happiness once a certain income level has been reached, and which
represents wealth and happiness as having a curvilinear relationship.[14]

Indeed, when one has met his basic needs and have more to spare, it is time to spend or give some
to experience happiness. This is because happiness is really a state of in-and-out flow [15] of one's
energy. Using or giving money is an expression of out-flowing of one's life-state. Attempt to just
hoard more and more in the belief that it brings more happiness can lead to the opposite result if
only because the means that is the pursuit of money for happiness has unwittingly become the
ends.

Leisure (also Leisure satisfaction)

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The concept of work-life balance is now well-accepted. At the same time, it must be noted that the
'life' aspect of this 'work-life' concept includes activities devoted to one's personal life which
sometimes calls for the kind of commitment and effort no less than that demanded from one's
work-life.

In some societies, this 'life' aspect might include looking after the elderly and infirm, sending
children to and from schools, preparing the meals, cleaning the house and doing the laundry. They
are as much work as the work life, and in the midst of all these, the need for leisure activities is
simply an alien concept.

Leisure as a culture is not a universal societal value although the younger generation in developed
or near-developed societies seems more inclined toward it. Overseas trips, lounging in a cafe with
friends, attending concerts, relaxing in a spa, karaoke-ing and similar activities after office hours
are now prevalent among that generation. In fact, over the last 15 years, the market has seen a
tremendous surge in demand for such leisure services. In his book "In the Era of Human
Capital",[16] Richard Crawford charted the exponential growth of the Business & Leisure sector in
the post-industrial society. This trend might look like an offshoot of a more affluent society;
however, the need for leisure is intrinsic in humans and only through the demands of modern
economic life run as it were by the clock, timetables, deadlines and schedules did this need fade
into the background.

Humans' need for leisure is intrinsic because that is the state they were born with, or rather, that is
the state of life in the natural world. Leisure implies that one is not pressured by others or oneself to
deliver a certain result but that life is lived to enjoy the simple pleasures of exploring the world that
one is born into.

This happy state of life is that generally experienced by the pre-school child and is gradually lost
when duties and responsibilities of school life and subsequently the adult work-life enter into the
picture.

Not all societies have embraced the leisure culture whether through certain public policies like
having a universal welfare system, and psychological and financial preparedness on the part of
individuals for retirement wherein leisure is the salient feature. This even applies to developed
nations. For example, the US has a "retirement crisis" in which a large percentage of Americans do
not have sufficient savings for retirement.[17]

Economic productivity being often if not always equated with work, the culture of leisure is seldom
recognized as a major contributor to a growing business sector. For this reason, many societies do
not have in place an infrastructure that strongly supports the leisure culture such as represented by
a universal social welfare system, a wealth of products, services and amenities for retirees. Such
societies even if they were to become more affluent may continue to find happiness elusive even
for retirees.

Leisure is intrinsically sought after by all as a way to release the tensions and stresses of work-life.
It is often used to indulge in play as is witnessed by how constantly obsessed nowadays people

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are with surfing the Internet, movies and games through their smartphones. There is no doubt that
these are enjoyable activities.

But leisure also allows people without the need of any modern gadgets to re-connect with
family and friends and experience the happiness arising from that interaction such as chatting over
a drink or meal.

Health

Historically, major Eastern mystical teachings on human development, like those from India and
China, do not make a separation between the spiritual and physical. Happiness or contentment was
never viewed as an isolated state from physical health. Physical health-enhancing practices such as
Hatha yoga and qigong and their respective herbalism known as Ayurveda and TCM (traditional
Chinese medicine) were consonant with and fully integrated into those mystical teachings in the
implicit belief that the attainment of the ideal state of consciousness requires a healthy body as a
launchpad or basis even.

Personal development and health in these systems are understood more as a holistic development of
the various aspects of the multidimensional human being.

The concept of body and mind interplay (including relationship factor) now known as
psychosomatic medicine has always been present in these "mystical teachings", particularly in
TCM. An unhappy, angry patient may be told by a TCM physician that there is a lot of trapped heat
in their internal organs and then treated accordingly with herbs or acupuncture. At times, if the
TCM physician is a qigong practitioner, they may even recommend some qigong exercises for the
patient to practise.

However given that adepts in such complex holistic analysis and treatment are hard to come by,
Eastern health maintenance practices may not necessarily be always adequate, reliable or even safe.
Mainstream Western medicine and a good personal knowledge into the common health issues and
how to treat them safely at home should also be included in the total package to ensure good health
so that the human body can be fit vehicle for optimal and positive performance the foundation of
happiness.

Outer success and material possession are secondary when health is compromised. One cannot be
happy or contented when the body is broken, although there are rare, exceptional individuals who
are able to rise above their physical predicament. However, for the vast majority having a good
knowledge and an effective protocol for personal health is critical to happiness not just to oneself
but also to one's family and friends.

Laughter

Laughter is synonymous with happiness. A proposal is made here that when a line of thought (e.g.
joke) or sensation (e.g. tickling) is not expected by one's psychological or physiological order

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respectively, it triggers a certain chaos and temporary breakdown of that order. The innate
Contentment intrinsic to the person then breaks through this temporal breach to express itself in
happy laughter.

Laughter has been used as a health therapy[18] for many years such as in some hospitals through the
showing of TV comedies for patients. Laughter clubs[19] have also been formed in India and some
Asian countries to promote laughter as a form of health-enhancement through regular meet-ups.

Universal social welfare

Hitherto, we have been exploring happiness or contentment based on the individual. The Nordic
nations, which have repeatedly appearing near the top in Happiness Index surveys like World
Happiness Report and most likely correlated economic performance as well show the world that
happiness is rooted critically in their welfare system, the "Nordic model", which not only fulfills
the healthcare, social and other essential needs of their people but also provides a high sense of
security to them.

Judaism
Some of the earliest references to the state of contentment are found in the reference to the midah
(personal attribute) of Samayach B'Chelko. The expression comes from the word samayach (root
Sin-Mem-Chet) meaning "happiness, joy or contentment", and chelko (root Chet-Lamed-Kuf)
meaning "portion, lot, or piece", and combined mean contentment with one's lot in life. The
attribute is referred to in the Mishnahic source which says, "Ben Zoma said: Who is rich? Those
who are happy with their portion."[20]

The origins of contentment in Jewish culture reflect an even older thinking reflected in the Book of
Proverbs which says: "A joyful heart makes a cheerful face; A sad heart makes a despondent mood.
All the days of a poor person are wretched, but contentment is a feast without end."[21]

The issue of contentment remained in Jewish thinking during the Middle Ages as evident for
example in the writings of Solomon Ibn Gabirol, an eleventh-century Spanish poet-philosopher
who taught:

Who seeks more than he needs, hinders himself from enjoying what he has. Seek what you need
and give up what you need not. For in giving up what you don't need, you'll learn what you really
do need.[22]

Islam
In Islam, true contentment is achieved through establishing a relationship with Allah, always
keeping Him in mind. The Quran states:

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Truly, it is in the remembrance of Allah(God) that hearts can find contentment

Quran - 13:29

This verse reveals that the more the people gain the trivial goods of this life, the greater becomes
the hunger and the consequent burning of their hearts. Moreover, there is no end for worldly desires
and greed. But as for those who seek God, the more they turn to Him, the greater is their peace of
mind. This means that a search for the divine or a supreme Deity is inherent within human nature
and the innermost yearning of a human being. The real and ultimate goal of a person's life.

In a well known Hadith (saying of the prophet Muhammad) the prophet said:

If the son of Adam (the human being) were given a valley full of riches, he would love
to have a second one; and if he were given the second one, he would love to have a
third, for nothing satisfies the belly of Adam's son except dust (of the grave). And
Allah forgives he who repents (turns) to Him.
Saheeh Bukhari-Vol 8:book76

Eastern religions
In Yoga (Yoga Sutras of Patanjali), movement or positions, breathing practices, and concentration,
as well as the yamas and niyamas, can contribute to a physical state of contentment (santosha).

In a Buddhist sense, it is the freedom from anxiety, want, or need. Contentment is the goal behind
all goals because once achieved there is nothing to seek until it is lost. A living system cannot
maintain contentment for very long as complete balance and harmony of forces means death.
Living systems are a complex dance of forces which find a stability far from balance. Any
attainment of balance is quickly met by rising pain which ends the momentary experience of
satisfaction or contentment achieved. Buddha's task was to find the solution to this never-ending
descent into dissatisfaction or Dukkha. The Buddhist faith is based on the belief that he succeeded.

Sikhism

Contentment (or Sabar or Santokh) is important an aspect in Sikh life and is known as attainment of
First Treasure. Sikhism categorizes Contentment into two forms: Contentment (Santokh) and True
Contentment (Satt Santokh/Sabar). Contentment can be broken, turning souls greedy for the
temporal world, but True Contentment is never broken and such a soul is eligible for the Supreme
State.[23] The soul having contentment is called Saabari[24] or Santokhi.

See also
Comfort
Deferred gratification

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Gratification
Pleasure
Happiness

Footnotes
1. Eisenblatt, S (2002). The Straight Road to Happiness: A Personal Guide to Enable Us to Overcome
Tendencies which Block Our Natural Flow of Happiness and to Explore New Horizons of Inner Joy.
p. 292.
2. https://www.bible.com/bible/111/heb.13.5.niv
3. "Neo-Taoism". A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Translated by Wing-Tsit Chan. Princeton
University Press. 2008. p. 331. ISBN 978-1-4008-2003-0.
4. Tzu, Lao. Tao Te Ching.
5. Jay Dixit (November 1, 2008). "The Art of Now: Six Steps to Living in the Moment". Psychology
Today.
6. Seligman, Martin; Michal Csikszentmilhalyi (January 2000). "Positive Psychology". American
Psychologist. 55 (1): 510. doi:10.1037/0003-066x.55.1.5. PMID 11392865.
7. Van der Merwe, Paul. "Contentment Yields More Happiness Than Ecstacy".
8. Schwartz, Barry; Ward, Andrew;Lyubomirsky, Sonja;Monterosso,John;White, Katherine (November
2002). "Maximizing Versus Satisficing:Happiness Is a Matter of Choice". Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology. 83 (5): 11781197. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.83.5.1178.
9. Lykken, David; Tellegen, Auke (3 May 1996). "Happiness Is A Stochastic Phenomenon". Psychological
Science. 7 (3): 186189. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.1996.tb00355.x.
10. Krueger R. F., South S., Johnson W., Iacono W. (2008). "The Heritability of Personality is not Always
50%: Gene-Environment Interactions and Correlations between Personality and Parenting". J Pers. 76
(6): 14851521. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2008.00529.x. PMC 2593100 . PMID 19012656.
11. Weiss, Alexander; Bates, Timothy; Luciano, Michelle (March 2008). "Happiness Is A Personal(ity)
Thing:The Genetics of Personality and Well-Being in a Representative Sample". Psychological Science.
19 (3): 205210. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02068.x. PMID 18315789.
12. Sheldon, K.M.; Elliot, A.J (1999). "Goal Striving, Need Satisfaction, and Longitudinal Well-Being:The
Self-Concordance Model". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 76: 482497.
doi:10.1037/0022-3514.76.3.482.
13. Wilkinson (1996). Unhealthy Societies:The Afflictions of Inequality. Routledge.
ISBN 978-0-415-09235-7.
14. Veenhoven, Ruut (1991). "Is Happiness Relative?". Social Indicators Research. 24: 134.
doi:10.1007/bf00292648.
15. "Flow and Happiness". Pursuit of Happiness. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
16. Crawford, Richard (1991). In the Era of Human Capital: The Emergence of Talent, Intelligence and
Knowledge as the Economic Force and What it Means. HarperBusiness.
17. Keith Miller, David Madland, Christian E. Weller (January 26, 2015). "The Reality of the Retirement
Crisis". Center for American Progress. Archived from the original on August 15, 2015.
18. "Laughter therapy". Cancer Treatment Centers of America. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
19. "Laughing yoga cultivates merry mindfulness". Fox News. Reuters. July 9, 2012.
20. "Ethics of the Fathers: Chapter Four - Texts & Writings". www.chabad.org. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
21. Proverbs 15:13 and 15, Rabbi Meir Leibush (Malbim)
22. Mivhar Hapeninim 155,161 as found in The Jewish Moral Virtues, Borowitz and Schwartz, p.164

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23. You are true and content; the Word of Your

Shabad is cool and soothing. Through it, we are lovingly, intuitively attuned to You. ||3||, Page 1038, Adi
Granth
24. Page 1384, Adi Granth; Sabar anar sbr an evai jleni. Those
who are patient abide in patience; in this way, they burn their bodies.

References
Borowitz, Eugene B. & Weinman Schwartz, Frances, The Jewish Moral Virtues, Jewish
Publication Society, 1999
Meir Leibush (Malbim), Rabbi, translated by Charles Wengrov and Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg,
Malbim on Mishley: The Book of Proverbs in Hebrew & English, Feldheim, 2001
Fohrman, David & Kasnett, Nesanel, Rabbis, editors, Babylonian Talmud Volume 3, Shabbat
32a, Volume I, ArtScroll / Mesorah, 1999

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