Philippians 4:11 “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.”

This lesson is hard. I constantly want to be doing more and I want to be at a different place in my life. For as long as I can remember I have been planning out (in detail) my life in its entirety. It feels as if all of my heart’s desires are all in my future. I want my own home. I want a husband and children. I want high school kids to call me their teacher while falling in love with math (I dream big). There is this life I have dreamed up in my head that feels so out of reach. Graduation is only a semester away, but I still keep longing for it as if it will never come. My thoughts are constantly thinking about how my life has not event started yet. Being content is an everyday decision that, a lot of times, I am failing at.

Inspired by The Office

Let me give you a very good quote from one of my favorite T.V. shows. Now, I do not watch a lot of T.V. My mom canceled our cable when I was about 7. It was sad at first, but Netflix has changed everything! There are certain shows that I have found and have watched every single episode (some more than once). The Office is one of those shows.

There is a character on The Office named Andy who was no longer working for Dunder Mifflin. The camera crew is interviewing him about his new life. Andy is talking about how while he worked for Dunder Mifflin he kept looking back at the good-ole days at Cornell University. Now that he is no longer working for Dunder Mifflin, he keeps looking back at the good-ole days in Scranton. He gives the audience this amazing quote. This really is a funny show, but as my sister put it, this quote is “real stuff”. Andy says “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.”

Think on that for a while. This time of our lives is the good old days. What are we going to miss when we look back? Living at home has some struggles and I really do want to move out on my own, but I will miss fighting over blankets with my sisters. My car is old and I always have to fix something, but I will miss my dad teaching me how to fix the issue. School sucks. Actually, that’s about all I have on that one. School sucks. Having no money for extra things is really hard, but I am going to miss figuring out different ways to make ramen.

circumstances do not determine happiness

I know there are many times that I am making fun and joking about where I am in my life. Some things about my life are easy to make a joke about. There are many things that are easy to complain about. Just hear me out when I say that I understand what you’re thinking and feeling, because I am thinking and feeling the same things. We are all in this together. We just have to remember our lives will constantly be changing. That is always going to be happening. There are going to be different places in our lives when we aren’t going to feel happy. Do you really think being married is what you need to be content? Does your happiness rely on the day that you move out? How about when you sign on to your first career? If that is what you think, then you are in for a rude awakening. You will find something else that will bring you down once you have all of those things. It is important to learn how to be content with where you are right now. It will give you a head start on finding “happiness”.

This is going to be a constant thing. You can’t always be wanting better. If you don’t learn to be content now, then it will be harder to be satisfied later. Figure out how to love where you are in life. Keep working for your dreams, but be happy now. You will never, I mean NEVER, get this time back. This is your one chance to live this moment. Make the best of it. Laugh at the annoying times. Tip toe through the good times. Embrace every moment. God has given you every day you live, not just the ones in your future. Don’t be ungrateful.