Contentment

I don't know if contentment is technically a virtue, but it's certainly something lacking in our modern world.

Part of it is that the internet and social media have exposed us to each other in unheard of ways. It's easier than ever to compare ourselves to the Joneses.

But here's what I think contentment actually is: focusing on what you have. What you have versus what you don't.

You can miss high or low. You can look up at someone with more and feel envious. Looking at what it's not. Or look down at someone with less and feel guilty about what you have or being thankful that yours is not worse.

Both miss the point.

Contentment is the radical act of seeing what's actually in front of you—your life, your relationships, your circumstances—and saying, "This is enough."

Not because it's perfect. Not because it couldn't be better. But because it's yours, and it's good, and it's what God has given you right now.

That doesn't mean we stop growing or striving. It means we stop believing that happiness is always one purchase, one promotion, one achievement away.

What if contentment isn't about having more or wanting less, but about truly seeing what you already have?