Content with Life's Contents?

Today I am grateful for my working limbs and the run that my husband Darcy and I shared after work yesterday. Running is such a good way to release the day's debris.

As I considered the word contentment yesterday, I thought about the other use of the word "content."  The items inside something. The contents of a container, a box, a life.

Am I content with the contents of my life? That can be a loaded question and the "yes" I give to that question now might be a "not so sure"at some point today. Rare would be the person who always answers that question yes. I do know what keeps me leaning more toward the yes response more of the time: living gratefully, seeking to discover the gratefulness here for the picking.

The smile on a child's face. The breeze on a warm day. Our grandson on video across the miles. Good running shoes. Fresh tomatoes. Conversation about the day and a writing assignment shared by our son. Our dog Oliver's ongoing excitement when I arrive home. A good night or good morning kiss shared with my husband.

Living gratefully helps me focus on the right contents. The contents of my heart, soul, and mind. Not the contents of my house, garage, purse.

An exercise in gratitude that you may want to try sometime is to consider what your life would be like if someone or something was not in it.

If I am feeling discontent about the contents of my life, I have likely developed a little tunnel vision and selfish thinking. I can literally step outside and take in nature and that helps broaden my perspective back out. Or I can also step out of myself and reach out to someone else with a text, a phone call, a note dropped in the mail, a prayer sent out.

Am I content with the contents of my life? In this moment, yes. And that is all that matters. This moment. I have enough. More than enough. I am enough. Just as I am today.