We all have opinions about happiness — humankind’s “happy state” — and why it seems at times that happiness is present, at others indifferent, and is all too often flighty.
There are those who feel that happiness finds us, others that we find it. As with most things human, the truth lies in the middle. Which is where contentment lies.
Contentment is a wonderful feeling on its own, of course. Yet it’s only a good start to a fulfilling life: a life of happiness. In my experience, I’ve come to regard contentment as the necessary ladder that gets us from experiences of sadness to happiness. I like to think of it this way:
In order to experience, and understand, the joy of happiness, one must also experience, and understand, the pain of sadness. Those who inhabit this duality have the chance to live life feeling not just the “mid range” of contentment, but also the “full range” of happy.