Janie Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Comments welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Mom Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Absolutely. I've known many people content with their misery. I can usually identify them by the amount of complaining they do :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiCO Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Absolutely. I've known many people content with their misery. I can usually identify them by the amount of complaining they do :). Exactly. They want to be miserable, so they are content. I think happiness is a state of mind. Just be happy. Find a way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 I think content is a step up from miserable, but isn't quite happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2boys Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 I think happiness is more transient and temporary than contentment. I am content with my life overall. Some days I'm joyful,:smilielol5: some days I'm happy,:thumbup: and, every once and awhile, I am sad or angry.:banghead: But overall, I am content with my life. I don't think it is realistic to be happy all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in CA Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Contentedness without happiness would be...resignation, I think. Accepting, but not enjoying, how things are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 I think happiness is more transient and temporary than contentment. I am content with my life overall. Some days I'm joyful,:smilielol5: some days I'm happy,:thumbup: and, every once and awhile, I am sad or angry.:banghead: But overall, I am content with my life. I don't think it is realistic to be happy all the time. :iagree:To me, happiness is temporal and fleeting, as it's based mostly on circumstances that can change over time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Absolutely. I've known many people content with their misery. I can usually identify them by the amount of complaining they do :). :lol: Too bad I voted "no" before reading this. You're absolutely right. If you're content with misery then it's possible. In *MY* reality, though... no. Contentment and happiness go hand-in-hand. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 I think happiness is more transient and temporary than contentment. I am content with my life overall. Some days I'm joyful,:smilielol5: some days I'm happy,:thumbup: and, every once and awhile, I am sad or angry.:banghead: But overall, I am content with my life. I don't think it is realistic to be happy all the time.:iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Contentedness without happiness would be...resignation, I think.Accepting, but not enjoying, how things are. This fits me.... i was resigned to my life and trying to make the most of what it was, but i reached my limit the Sunday after Christmas and i'm ready to move on and find happiness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebeccaC Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 (edited) I think that happiness has little to do with being content but satisfaction has everything to do with it. CC Paul wrote a lot about it; 2Co 12:10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. Php 4:11 - Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. 1Ti 6:8 If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. And Jesus spoke once about it; Lu 3:14 Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, "And what about us, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages." and finally the author of Hebrews wrote; Heb 13:5 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU," In all of the these verses the word satisfy or satisfied could be inserted. In the Co or Php verses happiness would not factor in the sufferings listed in either verse. I think happiness is really a shallow emotion that can be changed easily by circumstances and is often define by well being. Some one enduring what Paul endured would not have had feelings of well being while being beaten, shipwrecked, enduring cold and or hunger and or imprisonment, ect..... Paul could be satisfied/content in the knowing that God's grace was sufficient and therefore could avoid becoming offended by his circumstances, giving into bitterness, self pity, or hopelessness, ect.... I did a study on this when my oldest was first diagnosed with LKS. I learned that I could be content with God's grace/strength when it would have been very easy to be overcome by the grimness of the illness and fall into bitterness, despair, ect.. I was not jumping up and down with happiness but I did have a measure of peace, joy, and hope especially when I took the time to worship, pray and be in God's word. Truly there is fullness of joy in His presence and peace that passes understanding. Doing those thing helped me to know and feel that I was not forsaken but that He was with me and my 3yo son and that He would somehow someway turn it to good, which He did. Learning that lesson has helped me walk through all kinds of hard things with a sense of satisfaction in knowing that truly His grace is sufficient. Edited January 17, 2009 by RebeccaC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutor Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 I think happiness is dependent more on circumstances. I find happiness in a joke, a movie, a hug... or even in a feeling of contentment. Contentment itself is more of a peace that I am who and what I should be at any given moment. If I am enjoying a good meal and conversation with my family, I may be content in my happiness, love, company, and fellowship. If I am at the funeral of a loved one, I can be content in my sadness and mourning and the camaraderie of shared mourning. I don't know if that makes even an ounce of sense to anyone else, but I'm content with it. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 I'm very rarely happy but nearly always content. Happiness is really fleeting in my book. Content is much easier to attain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 To be content without either happiness or joy is just a metastable state. So it's extremely subject to pressures. When something upsets its equilibrium, it is undependable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CactusPair Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 I agree with the posters who describe happiness as a transient feeling that comes and goes. Contentment is more stable, a state of peace. I have been briefly happy when absolutely miserable with chronic illness. Contentment for me is the absence of the unbearable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 Contentedness without happiness would be...resignation, I think.Accepting, but not enjoying, how things are. :iagree:Being stuck because it feels safer to stay that way than to change and possibly be happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeefreak Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 I can be content, even when I'm unhappy because nothing is permanent. Sometimes I have to work hard at contentment, but to me it's more the equivalence of peace rather than happiness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedfamily Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 I know several women and men who are content in their marital state but not happy. They say they are just "used to" their spouses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 I know several women and men who are content in their marital state but not happy. They say they are just "used to" their spouses. Vulnerable marriages, probably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 (edited) When I divorced my 1st husband, I had an older friend tell me that, "when you get over the exciting feelings in the beginning, it becomes more about who you can be content and raise your family with...who you can live out your life with rather than who gives you butterflies." I poo poo'd her fast...but have come to realize that she was totally right. I am not always exceedingly happy...but I am definitely content. "Content with" does not equate to "settling for" in my book. It equates to peace and understanding; to common ground and acceptance. Edited January 18, 2009 by Tree House Academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedfamily Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 Vulnerable marriages, probably. I know a few are very vulnerable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 I know several women and men who are content in their marital state but not happy. They say they are just "used to" their spouses. To me, that's very sad. I'm sorry to say I know people like that, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindee Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 "when you get over the exciting feelings in the beginning, it becomes more about who you can be content and raise your family with...who you can live out your life with rather than who gives you butterflies." I poo poo'd her fast...but have come to realize that she was totally right.I dunno, I'm VERY happy with my husband (Our 21st Anniversary will be in less than 2 months!:001_wub:), VERY content, and when he calls me from work, winks at me from across the room, etc., I STILL get butterflies! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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