I was recently brought to the realization that the phrase "whatever will be will be," though catchy, is really rather defeatist, and expresses a sort of relinquishment of control and agency. Now, at the time of writing my last article, I think that I found peace in that; a comfort in the powerlessness it exerts, but that is not where I want to, or where I strive to be. I want contentment.

This may sound a bit like settling, but it is far from it. As Francis Burney said, “A youthful mind is seldom totally free from ambition; to curb that, is the first step to contentment, since to diminish expectations is to increase enjoyment.” I used this particular quote as I though it was of significant relevance to me and my peers who are struggling with ambition constantly as we go through school, attempting to get good grades, and succeed in school in hopes that it will ultimately lead to success in the “real world.” I may return to that point later in this article. I say that with relative uncertainty only because I am not completely sure where I’m going with this, and am thus not in a place to make any promises. I tend to fall into a stream of consciousness form of expression in these articles, which I enjoy incredibly, as I hope you do.

Back to the point at hand, contentment. Right, I’d like to look specifically at the part of Burney’s statement that says, “to diminish expectations is to increase enjoyment.” Now, I must make it clear that I do not mean for what I write to be taken as truth, but rather as an interpretation from which you might find your own, personal truth. How I see it is that expectations inevitably lead to disappointment, and often suffering. This suffering, like most all suffering, however, is avoidable. One merely has to lessen, or completely diminish one’s expectations of reality.

Expectations are people’s often unfruitful attempts to exert their omnipotence, and predict results, predict the future. This, however, can only result in disappointment, and likely embarrassment. If reality strays from one’s expectations of it, one will experience disappointment, not only because things didn’t go as one would have liked for them to go, but also because one’s self-confidence hinged on this exertion of one’s power over the outcome.

The reality of our actual powerlessness is frightening, because, as humans, we have an unquenchable thirst for control. To avoid being overcome by fear of uncertainty, we must maintain an illusion of control over everything, when, in reality, we, independently, have very little control over anything. The birth of expectations is an unhealthy option used to feed this innate longing within us all. But, there is another, much healthier alternative, that of contentment.

Contentment is the appreciation of all that is, and all that one has. It is a way of being without expecting anything of the future. It is living in the present, in the now, without allowing oneself to fret over what has happened in the past, or what is going to happen in the future.

There seems to be a fluidity to the course of life, and a meaning, whether known or unknown, to everything that happens, and everything that is. It is in connection to, and acceptance of this course of life, and the fluidity of it that contentment lies...maybe... Hopefully my attempt to abstractly illustrate that which is contentment didn't throw you off.

Anyway, let’s try it! I invite you, Reader of mine, to join me in living in a state of contentment. It will undoubtedly take time, and effort to get out of the human habit of creating expectations, and of suffering over the past. But, I believe that it is possible, with practice, and consciousness, to reach contentment, and, in turn, true happiness.

Appealing, is it not? I'll be the first to admit that letting go of the illusions we create to simulate our control of the past, and future is difficult, but it is possible. All we can do is act virtuously in the present moment, and take solace in the fact that, in the words of Siddhartha Gautama, "if we have not learned a lot today, we have at least learned a little; and if we have not learned a little, we have at least not fallen ill; and if we have fallen ill, we have at least not died, and for this we are thankful." Such is the essence of a contented life. It is attainable, trust me.