If you can’t be content without money; you can’t be content with money.

[dimreepr]

Everything you experience is part of the/your journey; the good has little meaning without the bad.

[StringJunky]

Everything you experience is part of the/your journey; the good has little meaning without the bad.

Yes, life needs to be sufficiently dynamic otherwise you have no reference.

[Phi for All]

A content one is the ideal since all needs are met.

 

What if you have a need for being prosperous?

 

 

 

Contentment and the economy are tied to money and things, but when I think of contentment, I usually think of situations and people to be with in those situations. Not just meeting my need for food, but eating a meal with good people and laughter. Not just having a good set of tools, but being capable of adapting my environment to help myself and others in various situations. Not just being able to afford a plane ticket, but traveling to interesting places and enjoying the people I meet along the way.

 

I've been very interested lately in emergence. Perhaps contentment is an emergent property, made up of lots of little things/events that bear little resemblance to the whole. Take away any of those pieces and contentment vanishes.

[StringJunky]

 

What if you have a need for being prosperous?

 

 

 

Contentment and the economy are tied to money and things, but when I think of contentment, I usually think of situations and people to be with in those situations. Not just meeting my need for food, but eating a meal with good people and laughter. Not just having a good set of tools, but being capable of adapting my environment to help myself and others in various situations. Not just being able to afford a plane ticket, but traveling to interesting places and enjoying the people I meet along the way.

How contentment manifests itself is not the same for everyone, it doesn't mean meeting the minimum to survive, it means enough to be content.

 

 

I've been very interested lately in emergence. Perhaps contentment is an emergent property, made up of lots of little things/events that bear little resemblance to the whole. Take away any of those pieces and contentment vanishes.

I think about emergence a lot and it simultaneously fascinates and puzzles how you can put two or three elements together and something completely different and much more powerful emerges that bears little or no resemblance to the original components; literally 2+2=5. If you looked at those components and tried to predict the product that might arise from putting them together, you'd be totally wrong! I think contentment or the sense of freedom is emergent as well.

[Phi for All]

How contentment manifests itself is not the same for everyone, it doesn't mean meeting the minimum to survive, it means enough to be content.

 

When I think about it like that, though, there are some things I'm not sure I could ever get enough of. Could I make a list of twenty places to go I've never been to before, and be content with just those? Could I live with just twenty more grateful smiles from people I helped just because I could? Could I be content with the love and laughter I've already been lucky enough to have had, and no more?

 

Needs that further contentment obviously have to be continually met. "Enough to be content" must have a lot of pieces one needs to keep in play, especially if contentment is an emergent property.

[StringJunky]

 

When I think about it like that, though, there are some things I'm not sure I could ever get enough of. Could I make a list of twenty places to go I've never been to before, and be content with just those? Could I live with just twenty more grateful smiles from people I helped just because I could? Could I be content with the love and laughter I've already been lucky enough to have had, and no more?

 

Needs that further contentment obviously have to be continually met. "Enough to be content" must have a lot of pieces one needs to keep in play, especially if contentment is an emergent property.

You want continual smiles, it doesn't have to be finite. I suppose a lot of it is a widespread incurable desire to improve ones social status, and one will not be happy until one is standing on the very zenith of it! I think this is the major discontent. You see it all over the place. In India it is embraced and such ideas openly expressed by all echelons of this country. It seems alien to me but it is apparently normal to desire class and status.

[dimreepr]

 

When I think about it like that, though, there are some things I'm not sure I could ever get enough of. Could I make a list of twenty places to go I've never been to before, and be content with just those? Could I live with just twenty more grateful smiles from people I helped just because I could? Could I be content with the love and laughter I've already been lucky enough to have had, and no more?

 

Needs that further contentment obviously have to be continually met. "Enough to be content" must have a lot of pieces one needs to keep in play, especially if contentment is an emergent property.

 

 

If the cup, you choose to fill, is based on emotional satisfaction; it can never be filled.

But if that cup is based on your actual needs it’s often full.

[Phi for All]

If the cup, you choose to fill, is based on emotional satisfaction; it can never be filled.

Maybe the idea isn't to fill it. Maybe it's a huge jug instead of a cup, but I really only need a fraction of it's capacity to be content.

 

This seems a more honest gauge of contentment. I'm not content because my cup is full, I'm content because I have just enough to satisfy my needs in my big old jug that could hold more.

 

But if that cup is based on your actual needs it’s often full.

This seems to say our actual needs will never change, never grow or lessen. Maybe I really only need a fraction of the jug's capacity at any one time to be content.

 

I keep going back to this idea of austerity vs actual needs. Do I get to say I need music, if other people can live without it, or if it's not part of the basics of staying alive? If music is an actual need of mine, and I can't hum Bach well enough to call it music, do I get to own a copy of The Brandenburg Concertos, and something to play them on?

 

If you asked me to divest myself of everything I possibly could, and identify the least amount of "stuff" I need to live, then give me food, shelter, clothing, and unlimited paper and pencils. I'll be good to go.

 

But if you're taking away other people, and I'm left with just myself being fed, clothed, and housed, I think that's an emotional satisfaction I can't be content without. You could keep the writing implements if I could keep the ability to interact with people.

[dimreepr]

Maybe the idea isn't to fill it. Maybe it's a huge jug instead of a cup, but I really only need a fraction of it's capacity to be content.

 

This seems a more honest gauge of contentment. I'm not content because my cup is full, I'm content because I have just enough to satisfy my needs in my big old jug that could hold more.

 

This seems to say our actual needs will never change, never grow or lessen. Maybe I really only need a fraction of the jug's capacity at any one time to be content.

 

I keep going back to this idea of austerity vs actual needs. Do I get to say I need music, if other people can live without it, or if it's not part of the basics of staying alive? If music is an actual need of mine, and I can't hum Bach well enough to call it music, do I get to own a copy of The Brandenburg Concertos, and something to play them on?

 

If you asked me to divest myself of everything I possibly could, and identify the least amount of "stuff" I need to live, then give me food, shelter, clothing, and unlimited paper and pencils. I'll be good to go.

 

But if you're taking away other people, and I'm left with just myself being fed, clothed, and housed, I think that's an emotional satisfaction I can't be content without. You could keep the writing implements if I could keep the ability to interact with people.

 

 

My point isn’t so much austerity as it is doing what you need to be content; if that need includes music then do what you can to fulfil that need. If you can’t then what choice do you have?

[mastercarrot]

You can be content with the money you have if you like your lifestyle and do the things that make you happy. You can be happy with less money if you know what you want to achieve in life and feel that you are on the right path.

[dimreepr]

You can be content with the money you have if you like your lifestyle and do the things that make you happy. You can be happy with less money if you know what you want to achieve in life and feel that you are on the right path.

 

 

My point is, money is a means to an end, not an end in itself; contentment can only come from within.

[StringJunky]

 

 

My point is, money is a means to an end, not an end in itself; contentment can only come from within.

Yes, like life is a journey not a destination.

[dimreepr]

Indeed, enjoy the journey rather than fear the destination.

Don’t wait for the penultimate station to realise you’ll get there anyway.

[StringJunky]

Indeed, enjoy the journey rather than fear the destination.

Yes, no point worrying about what you don't know... it wastes the present.

[dimreepr]

It's no accident the word present also means gift.

And the gift in my present is a cold beer, a fat doobie and Wimbledon on the TV; happy days...

[StringJunky]

It's no accident the word present also means gift.

And the gift in my present is a cold beer, a fat doobie and Wimbledon on the TV; happy days...

You are in the moment. I'm in lizard-mode, it's 33^oC and nearly 6pm..

[dimreepr]

A gift would mean so much less if you had one every day.

[Phi for All]

 

 

My point is, money is a means to an end, not an end in itself; contentment can only come from within.

 

I keep coming back to the concept of an empty bowl. The value isn't in what's in the bowl, or what the bowl is made of, the value is the empty space the bowl creates. Perhaps being content is keeping a balance between filling the bowl with just what you need, while keeping it empty enough to accept something new.

 

Perhaps I can't shake the austerity angle of contentment because it seems tied with "living within your means", "knowing your place", "your lot in life", and other concepts like that. There's also a certain meekness associated with being content. Stop trying to rock the boat, be content with what you have. I don't like that part because it seems to run counter to what we call "spirit". If pioneers are content, do they roam about discovering new things?

 

But I totally agree that you'll never be content if you think you have to buy something to be happy. Back in the mid-80s, Doubletree Hotels came up with a new property based on the French concept called compri. The basic things you need to be content are included, no extra frills. Just enough and no more. What you've been describing reminds me of compri.

[dimreepr]

Perhaps I can't shake the austerity angle of contentment because it seems tied with "living within your means", "knowing your place", "your lot in life", and other concepts like that. There's also a certain meekness associated with being content. Stop trying to rock the boat, be content with what you have. I don't like that part because it seems to run counter to what we call "spirit". If pioneers are content, do they roam about discovering new things?

 

 

Don’t confuse a thirst for knowledge with greed and besides don’t the meek inherit the Earth?

[Phi for All]

 

 

Don’t confuse a thirst for knowledge with greed and besides don’t the meek inherit the Earth?

 

I wasn't confusing the two, but money buying things seems to be the deciding factor here. It's OK not to be content with your lot in life, it's OK not to be content with staying where you were born, but it's not OK to want wealth. Wealth defined as money you don't need to survive. And money is something we can't be content with if we can't be content without it. What makes money different?

 

It seems like when the money is earmarked for something we can justify, like music or travel, it's OK to want it. If I want to amass great wealth so I can give it all away to people who need it, is that OK? Can I spend my money on visiting every country in the world, even though it's not necessary for my basic needs?

 

I don't believe the meek will inherit the Earth. I think the assertive told them that to keep them meek. And I'm just being contrary here, especially with all the aphorisms being thrown around. I feel ornery about this, for some reason.

[dimreepr]

Money = stuff, and sometimes, Knowledge = understanding; but if you use your knowledge to = stuff then you don’t understand.

Edited July 1, 2015 by dimreepr

[dimreepr]

This goes to show that too many beers doesn't clarify your thoughts quite as well as you imagine at the time.

[Phi for All]

This goes to show that too many beers doesn't clarify your thoughts quite as well as you imagine at the time.

 

Just enough and no more.

[dimreepr]

 

I wasn't confusing the two, but money buying things seems to be the deciding factor here. It's OK not to be content with your lot in life, it's OK not to be content with staying where you were born, but it's not OK to want wealth. Wealth defined as money you don't need to survive. And money is something we can't be content with if we can't be content without it. What makes money different?

 

It seems like when the money is earmarked for something we can justify, like music or travel, it's OK to want it. If I want to amass great wealth so I can give it all away to people who need it, is that OK? Can I spend my money on visiting every country in the world, even though it's not necessary for my basic needs?

 

I don't believe the meek will inherit the Earth. I think the assertive told them that to keep them meek. And I'm just being contrary here, especially with all the aphorisms being thrown around. I feel ornery about this, for some reason.

 

 

The choice is yours to make and I’d never presume to tell anyone I know the correct choices for anyone other than me; and I get them wrong more often than I’d like to admit.

 

But to pin ones hopes and choices on a future that may never be better than now could be to deny one the chance to enjoy, at least, something however meagre.

 

So why spend this treasured now needlessly angry or jealous or stressed or worried or focused on the negative when one has breath to wonder and dream?

Edited July 3, 2015 by dimreepr

[Gorototh]

I don't think money is the only source of happiness or the only cause for unhappiness which is what I think the matter at hand is. It would be terribly absurd to think so. In fact I think this thread in general is almost useless seeing that it is obvious people get their happiness from almost anything, it is a basic human necessity to be content, it's what drives us away from suicide.

A boy in central Africa could be extremely happy to have found a source of clean water, where a middle class white male can be extremely unhappy because his Wi-Fi is taken down for 20 minutes.

This is not a useful question.