Did I just feel…content? Weird. I’m not at the beach.

The dashboard showed that the outside temp was only 106 yesterday. Down almost 10 degrees from the day before. The AC was blowing so cold that I had to back it off because I was getting chilly. I was heading into Phoenix to have lunch with a remarkable friend-via-blog that I have known for 12 years, yet never met.

Driving past the empty Salt River bed, I had this feeling that I usually only notice when lying on some beach with my toes in the sand: Contentment.

Feeling content is not a natural state of being for me. There is always something I need to get done, some flaws I need to improve upon, some future problems casting shadows up the road, some questions that perplex me. A major battle that rages in my soul is often about “Driven Brad” arguing with “Lazy Brad,” and neither one comes away very satisfied.

This makes my contentment more significant, and my recognition of it more surprising. Why am I telling you? Because it really is quite lovely. My life is pretty darn good. My family is great. My wife still loves me. The wolves are not at the gate. We have all of our needs and most of our wants. I am content.

Now, don’t get the wrong idea – I could easily make a list of 100 problems that vex me or need to be addressed, but to what end? I’m not traipsing through life blissfully ignorant, nor am I apathetic to the real concerns, both proximate and eventual. Contentment is not complacency. So, my feeling of contentment does not require being unaware of the negatives; it is more about accepting their reality and, instead, focusing on the beauty of now.

Over the past few years, I have made greater efforts in a couple of areas that seem to be paying dividends. The first was the gem the Lord gave Joseph Smith while he suffered in Liberty Jail:

“Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God; and for his arm to be revealed.”Section 123:17

The key is the simple idea of doing things that lie in our power. So much contentment is squandered by worrying about things that are outside of our control. (Which, really, includes most things.) That is a huge step – to spend our time, effort, and emotion on things that we can actually impact – things we can fix, change, or do – and let go of the things we can’t.

Another thing that interferes with my contentment is when I get worked up about what might be coming down the pike.

The stoic philosopher Seneca said this: “We suffer more often in imagination than in reality. He also said, “They lose the day in expectation of the night, and the night in fear of the dawn.”

The two things, in a nutshell, are these:
1) Don’t waste time, energy, and emotion on things I can’t control.
2) Don’t let fear of the unknowns (real or imagined) take away from the realities of today.

President Thomas Monson said, “We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. For maximum happiness, peace, and contentment, may we choose a positive attitude.” (link)

I probably shouldn’t mention the part about how, when I find myself content, all sorts of things rain down on me that seem to douse that flame. So, I won’t. Instead, let’s aim for Paul’s level – even though he experienced a non-stop parade of trauma, he managed to say, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” (Philippians 4:11)

I am going to ride this wave of non-beach-related contentment as long as I can. Glouster famously said in Richard III, “Now is the winter of our discontent.” I would say, “Now is the summer of our content.” (It doesn’t really trip off the tongue, but, hey, I’m no Shakespeare.)

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Did I just feel…content? Weird. I’m not at the beach.

Did I just feel…content? Weird. I’m not at the beach.