Pursuit of Happiness

At church today, the pastor talked about not charging anything this Christmas season. Pay cash for all you purchases. He equated using a credit card as a sign of discontentment. We are not happy with our life, so we buy things to feel better. Alot of what we do is controlled by our level of contentment, from what we eat and drink, how we spend our free time to how we handle our finances.

So how do we achieve true contentment? In my personal experience, it was by gaining control of what I could control and not concerning myself with the rest. Eating a proper diet and exercising regularly was essential. Establishing a relationship with God was also extremely important. When God is in control, you understand that there are boundaries that you live within.
We as adults are no different than we were as children. We are most content when we have boundaries. We set for ourselves limits and we live within those. This philosophy has given me a level of contentment that I never knew was possible.

When we die, all that is left of us is our soul. We have our time here, however long or short, to develop that soul into one that is contented. We've all known people who had a restless, troubled soul and even some, sadly, who have souls that are tormented. This is what we take with us to "other side" in my opinion. So with this in mind, being content is not only important for our time here on earth, but also in the hereafter.