"I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer."
                                             ~Actor Jim Carrey

"Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content."                          ~Ecclesiastes 1:8

A fascinating study done by Professor Vicki Medvec reveals the relative importance of subjective attitudes over and above objective circumstances. 

Medvec studied Olympic medalists and discovered that bronze medalists were quantifiably happier than silver medalists. Why?  Because silver medalists tended to focus on how close they came to winning gold, so they weren't satisfied with silver; bronze medalists tended to focus on how close they came to not winning a medal at all, so they were just as happy to be on the medal stand.

We live in an age when advertising tells us, "Have it your way", "You deserve it!", and "Although somethings in life are priceless, for everything else, there's MasterCard". Personal and immediate gratification is the name of the American game.  As a result our minds and hearts are frequently in a state of "If only..."  As soon as something isn't going our way, we are prone to think, "Why me? or "If only..."

The more you think of the "if only", the less able you are to find grace in the present.  The more we focus on the thing we want, the less we focus on God's gifts that are already all around us.

     "The person with the discontented heart has
      the attitude that everything he does for God
      is too much, and everything God does for
      him is too little."                   ~Don Kistler

     "Envy is resenting God's goodness to others
      and ignoring God's goodness to me."    
                                                  ~Rick Warren

Brennan Manning, in response to a question about divisive differences within the global church, said, "The real difference is between the aware and the unaware.  When somebody is aware of that love—the same love that the Father has for Jesus—that person is just spontaneously grateful. Cries of thankfulness become the dominant characteristic of the interior life, and the byproduct of gratitude is joy. We're not joyful and then become grateful—we're grateful, and that makes us joyful."

Choose to focus on today.
Choose to turn from envy.
Choose not to live in the world of "If only..."
Choose to recognize and be grateful for what God has already provided.

"Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have." ~The Apostle Paul, Philippians 4:11

Growing Together in Contentment...