Happiness or Contentment: Lost in Translation

I am a very practical person and rarely judge a book by its cover – although some of the caftan-clad, bright-eyed gurus beaming at us from the bookshelves tend to draw a few sniggers – but if you look closely at the promotional blurb on a self-help book, you can usually find exactly what the product is promising. And that leads me to the belief that while we are all browsing in the same English-language bookshop, not all of us are speaking the same language.

Confused yet?

Words are the new currency. Buzz words are gold. Plaster a product with promises of Motivation, Passion, Serenity, Love, Wealth, Spirituality and of course Inspiration and it instantly appears more appealing. But what of Happiness?

Claims of guaranteed happiness as a result of reading a book or listening to a tape may be true, but I don’t think we are all defining ‘happiness’ in the same way. This is the ‘lost in translation’ part of my gripe. To my way of thinking, happiness is fine and I’ll take it over misery any day, but I don’t place the same value on it as I do on contentment. Contentment, I believe, is what all of us are after as we clutch our “Eternal Happiness in Three Yoga Positions” book and shuffle towards the cash register.

Contentment and Happiness In the Ring Together

I know that ‘contentment’ sounds old-fashioned and boring. ‘Happy’ is cocktail dresses and beach barbecues and I doubt anyone at the Spring Carnival or Big Day Out said they were ‘content’. But contentment, I believe, is much more important than happiness. This is my take on things:

Happiness, by my definition, is linked to specific things. It is a product of a relationship you have with an experience, whether it is playing basketball, having coffee with a friend or staring at clouds. But ultimately it requires that experience to be present, for you to reap its rewards.

Real contentment however, is much harder to find. By my definition, contentment is being satisfied with your life. Contentment may not possess the giddy heights of happiness, but it has a foundation broader and firmer than a tectonic plate. To me its scope is so much greater and its shelf-life so much longer than happiness.

The quote from The Dhammapada, (a collection of teachings by Buddha), that “contentment is the greatest treasure,” is a more poetic way of expressing my point of view!

So will this make ‘Contentment’ as big a buzz word as ‘Happiness’? Rather than endless websites on channelling our inner Goddess, will we now be hurling books on contentment into our virtual shopping carts?

Somehow I doubt it. After all, self-help has to sell and being content doesn’t really have the same ring to it as discovering “The Seven Secrets to Sexual Happiness”. (See how your eyes were drawn here??? Why do you think I called this category “The Naked Author”?) But spread the word all the same!!!!

Simone.

PS. Like all good women I am multi-tasking at the moment and while I type this I am also nursing my flu-stricken husband and sorting a pile of laundry, hence the above cynical turn!

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