My Tao - Contentment

All activities have their own natural pace. If things go slower than this pace, there's waste. When things go faster than this pace, there's also waste. We see this everywhere in nature. Every animal has its own natural range of speeds. Every plant grows at a natural pace.

This extends into human society. We talk and walk and live our lives within ranges that are natural. Otherwise, we burn ourselves out, or we become indolent and depressed.

To feel content and relaxed, we need to do things at a pace that correspond to what is natural to ourselves. But this poses a problem because the pace that's natural to us is rarely the pace that's natural to other things.

A tree grows at a pace so slow that it doesn't appear to change at all. A sizeable forest is required in order to provide us with enough things to do to occupy our daily lives. The same goes for industry and projects of various kinds. They need to have a certain scale in order to satisfy our natural desire for activity. However, we don't want these projects to be too big either. The trick is to scale things correctly.

A well-balanced lifestyle includes several projects, some of which are optional so that they can be skipped when there's an urgent need to do something out of the ordinary. An appropriate amount of time should be allocated to each project.

In my case, most of my projects are optional. The only important one is my investment portfolio which requires very little attention. The natural pace of my portfolio is to do nothing for years, or even decades on end, so there's no urgent need to check on it every day. Yet, I do. I check the daily market movements, a little like a forester checks his forest.

If I spend too much time reading up on the markets, I end up with an uneasy feeling. An urge to do something sets in. There's discomfort. Hence, it's important to keep the time spent on this project to a minimum.

This makes it important to have other projects: I spend time on my balcony. I have micro-composts that I find strangely fascinating. It's intriguing to see so much life appear seemingly out of nowhere.

I have other interests too, and I write about them on this blog. It's a great way to sort out thoughts. Then there's daily routines in the house. I sometimes go for walks about town, and I'm getting quite good at simply soaking up the general atmosphere of calm and order that comes from having things sorted out.

The ability to simply enjoy the moment is a great way to balance things. It yields a state of contentment in which the urge to do things disappear, which is good when there's no urgent need to do anything. Contentment prevents us from doing things that turn out to be costly and counterproductive. It puts things in perspective.

Ideas come to mind at a natural pace. Things get prioritized, and we can return to our projects with a sense of purpose. Contentment isn't only a pleasant state in itself. It's a powerful way to make sure that the right things get done at the right time and at the right pace.

Contentment prevents us from doing something rash. It highlights what needs to be done. It's key to both happiness and success and should be pursued by everyone. A garden or a balcony with plants can help in this respect. A walk in the park. A spot with a calming view. A good cup of coffee. Whatever is available should be used to achieve this because a constant feeling of unrest is not only draining. It's a source of much rashness and waste.

Contentment is not only good for us in the now. It generates wealth into the future, with further reasons and opportunities to feel content. Once the habit is established, a positive feedback loop kicks in.

Contemplating life over a cup of coffee