"Be contented when you have got all you want."
-- Holbrook Jackson
... Pardon me, but isn't that the definition of contented, pretty much?
This sounds to me like saying "be full when you have eaten all you can." or "be wet when you fall in water."
I am sure he means there are people who are never contented no matter what they get. But obviously they would be contented if they had what they really want. Perhaps they feel they need and want something but they don't know what it is.
And actually I think this runs deep in the human condition. I think it is only recently in history that we run into it, because it is pretty new that any number of people get all their creature comforts sated and more.
(Wow, like often, this post rapidly runs deeper than I foresaw.) Studying Silvia Hartmann's work, I am learning about this. And finding out about how humans live in only a tiny bit of our true beingness, the thinking mind. There are huge systems, "energy systems" which are immensely important, but which we are really out of touch with. I am working currently (with emotrance and other things) to heal and build up these systems, and it is changing my life profoundly. My "energy heart" in particular.
It is as if you've been living for 80 years locked into a tiny cabin without windows. And you have forgotten there is a great big world out there, but... you just have these longing feelings...
Check it out, contended means fought over. You need a T in there so it means to be satisfied.
ReplyDeleteOoops. Thanks, dudeski.
ReplyDeleteTotally with you there. A guy who thinks before speaking should have said : "Be contented when you have got all your heart really wants."
ReplyDeleteThe rest is dumb greed.
Alas, it doesn't always work. Consider simple peace, for instance. If (and such is often the case) there are people who crave for power, always more and more, you'll NEED power enough to fend them off in order to preserve your peace. Which brings us immediately to the unpleasant business of world politics. It's a nasty, unpleasant job, but somebody has to do it, because otherwise there's bound to be some bastard who is only contented when he dominates you. Contented peace is contended. ;-)
"I kept praying to God for a bike, but didn't get it. Then I understood that's not the way God works. So I stole a bike, and prayed for God to forgive me."
I'm not trying to advocate "necessary evil", but it needs to be explained and understood. Utopia dreams aside, there shall always be evils against which we need to defend.
The right attitude should be to always wonder how much power is enough.
President Bush, this means YOU.
How many American lives would be lost to terrorism, and how many have been lost in Iraq? (I'm not even mentioning the 100 times more mostly innocent Iraqi lives that were lost.) I don't really perceive "Dubya" as a wise holy man...
Also, and without sparking polemics, how many lives were lost in the last Lebanon war, on both sides, for two israeli soldiers that were in no immediate vital danger? (And who are still fine today, apart from being detained.) This wasn't a wise war, from both sides. In fact, in war, there's always at least one side that's wrong... but in most instances both sides are.
I believe sometimes the wise thing to do is give up a battle to win the war. For example, people who sincerely try to amend Lebanon frequently end up assassinated. I want to live in a civilised society, not die for one that might never become civilized. Therefore, I'm considering emigration to a country where improvement attempts are not a capital crime. It's all about reflected choices.
But, I have ties here. Much more important than my little daily habits, I have loved ones. I'll be contented if I can have what my heart wants without having to sacrifice part of it for the rest.
:-(
I'm reminded of a joke Algis Budrys told me:
ReplyDeleteA little boy walks past his big sister's room, and sees her rubbing her breasts and moaning: "I need a man, I need a man!"
Lo and behold, the next night she had a man in there.
So the boy went and threw himself on his bed and started rubbing his chest wailing: "I need a bicycle, I need a bicycle!"
I've heard that the old Taoist thing is (some loose translation that ends up in English as) "Unfulfilled desire is the root of all unhappiness."
ReplyDeleteTaken with the right degree of sophistry and tongue in cheek, you can say that the simple recipe for a happy life is: lower your expectations. :)
To me, unfortunately, I feel a type of dissatisfaction with the injustice of that. Are we willing to accept that the "race is not to the swift" when the judges of the race are humans who need looking-over?
Wonko,
ReplyDeleteClearly your place is outside the asylum.
But although it would be very fitting, I don't advise you to come live in my country just because you could mentally survive here.
8-P
As I often say : "Expect nothing positive, that way you'll only have GOOD surprises. Otherwise, they won't be surprises!"
But this country is getting really boring. We haven't had ONE surprise in years!
Okay, so the Syrian withdrawal was a half-surprise. Unsurprisingly, we still have the most corrupt of governments...
But the good news is, now they're embezzling freelance! 8-)