By Lisa S. Tarno

The enemy of being content is AWARENESS! In today’s world with smart phones and social media, we are EVER AWARE of: what we have and what we don’t have; who we’re with and without; being included or being excluded; traveling or staying home; remodeling or keenly reminded of our budget; having something shiny and new or making do with what we have; success in life or feeling like a failure; kids doing well or kids making foolish choices; weight loss success or wincing at bad picture of ourselves…it’s an ENDLESS LIST!!

I’m quite sure we’ve gravitated away from godly advice to “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS…” (emphasis mine) 1 Thessalonians 4:11

I had to camp there today and diagnose and treat my discontent with the truth of God’s word. It started with asking myself, “What am I feeling?” to “Why do I think I’m feeling that way?” Mind you, within these two quests for answers came ample self pity and shock that a woman my age could still battle with ridiculous inclinations. Where had I lost perspective?

I teach others to take a feeling and trace its origin. What have you been thinking about? What’s the nature of those thoughts? Are they good and productive or bad, sad and destructive? Assign an author to those thoughts. We know that all good things come from God and all lies, bad and destructive things come from our enemy. So make the umpire call!! This is 2 Corinthians 10:5 in ACTION…every day!! “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” Why? Is this some restrictive ploy in Christianity? NO…it’s to teach us to have discipline over our minds so we can live contented and free!!

Trust me when I say I have to do this often. If the mind truly is the battlefield, I have lost many battles but where awareness serves me well is here, to know that I have a prescription in 2 Cor. 10:5 and 1 Thess 4:11 daily. It IS possible to learn to live content.

Practically with MYOB (mind your own business) it may look like limiting social media and media all together. You don’t know what you don’t know, right? I think it lends to a more simple life…peaceful, relaxed, gracious with one’s self and appreciative of what we DO have…contentment.

One thing I love with period pieces in print or screen is the simplicity and pace of life. There’s something so endearing about life in the 1700’s, 1800’s to early 1900’s. I think we can all learn from the past to slow down, read a good book, be thankful to God and love each other deeply.

I want to turn awareness on its ear. Today I want to be more aware not of what I don’t have or am missing but rather, I want to be aware of TRUTH more and more and not give attention to the lies that vie for my peace. I don’t want to get sucked down the drain of comparison and discontent. It takes intentional focus to count our blessings and not others’. This is one of the secrets of being content!