Contentment – My Thoughts and an Original Poem

Hello everyone, 

My hostas are in bloom so they had to be the cover photo for this post! 🙂

As I look over all that has happened over the past few months, I am amazed at how quickly my life changed. In February, I was in the middle of a full semester of school. I was working a part time job. I was in a play that was to be performed in March. I went to see Les Misérables downtown. I went to basketball games. I went to sleepovers. I went to church in person. I didn’t know Zoom inside and out. I didn’t know what was coming. 

After all the plans were cancelled, all the engagements lost, all the in-person meetings stopped, all the world activity was put on hold, I was reminded of one truth. It has stuck with me since March’s quarantine lockdown: the freedom found in contentment. 

Life has moments of pain and despair. There are days you are ready to crumble. There are days when getting up is hard. There are days when reality does not seem real. But contentment gives you the freedom to let go of the anxiety, fear, hopelessness, and annoyance you feel. 

Contentment is not settling for less or staying complacent. But ushering in the choice to choose joy in uncontrollable circumstances. It can be craving change without losing control. It is being patient without becoming angry. It is being thankful for the blessings already given. 

So many things and people have been stripped away from us, but I also recognized I still have my health, my parents, my sibling, springtime, hobbies, books, internet, paper, pens, music, food, recipes, friends, tea, conversations, a home, flowers, art, a comfortable bed, clothes, shoes, laughter, sun…life. Too many times I miss the blessing right in front of me. I still have life. I still am Kenedy.

That is freedom. Does chaos define me? Do my activities define me? Do my accomplishments define me? Do my things define me? No, therefore I will rest in contentment. I know I am not what goes on around me or what I have. So is it annoying to have things taken from us? Yes, by all means. Do I have to like all that is going on around me? No, by all means. But that doesn’t mean your life stops or can’t be beautiful anymore. 

No matter where you stand on quarantining and this virus, we all need a lesson on contentment. I have found it to be more of a daily decision than something to turn on in a crisis. If we all still aspire for better but never become anxious or egotistical for what we do not have, I think it would help us all become more loving. More like who we are: people made in the image of a loving Father. The one who sent His son to the cross to save us and find true contentment and fulfillment in Him. 

I also have an original poem for you all! I wrote this back in March when quarantine was a very new reality. 

A Cry To A Virtue

Contentment, breathe on me like the air I need

Contentment, be an ocean billowing and cascading

Contentment, plunge me into the depths of your waters

Contentment, submerge my soul in your fullness

Contentment, be a textbook I must read to time’s end

Contentment, be the word written on my heart

Contentment, never fade like paints or pens

Contentment, be a glorious work to be admired and loved

Contentment, be a symphony of finery and melody

Contentment, be a gentle hymn that turns my heart to you

Contentment, never fly away from my soul

Contentment, sweet contentment, make me humble and whole

~ Kenedy M.