do you feel that contentment in life is enough to live on?

do you think that not wanting anything more is okay.

just to be content

not making plans, not really aiming for anything, but just happy and content

I love contentment. For me, it connotes being at peace with my life -- calm, stability, satisfaction, pleasure.

Edited to add: I don't think of contentment as not having any plans or not wanting anything more, but it is a peace with how things are now. I don't "have" to have something else to be good with life . . . But that doesn't mean I don't have hopes and plans; it's just that my happiness doesn't depend on those things absolutely having to come to fruition.

[Trippin2.0]

This ^^ that's exactly it!

I couldn't have said it any better.

[Wildflower4]

Originally Posted by lolagrace

I love contentment. For me, it connotes being at peace with my life -- calm, stability, satisfaction, pleasure.

Edited to add: I don't think of contentment as not having any plans or not wanting anything more, but it is a peace with how things are now. I don't "have" to have something else to be good with life . . . But that doesn't mean I don't have hopes and plans; it's just that my happiness doesn't depend on those things absolutely having to come to fruition.

This is what I am striving for. I think it is a great place to be for anyone but especially those of us with BP. I kind of equate that with stability. Just my thoughts though.

[gina_re]

This is where I was before my latest episode. I want it back.

My sister has a chalkboard in her house that says, "Contentment: lovingly caring for the things we have." And I think that's a good definition for me. It's hard not to want or strive for more things that I think will make me happy, like if only I had x then my life will be complete. Some of my depression stems from that feeling of emptiness in my life so I am trying to be grateful for what I have by making a list of all the good things in my life. It's hard but good.

[RisuNeko]

I HAVE to have goals and plans or contentment quickly slips away. It's happened time and again with dead end jobs and it's driven me to go back to school 3 times with the aim of getting an actual career. But at the same time, having such large goals is what drives my anxiety to a large extent and keeps me from rising above anything more than contentment. I don't know if that makes sense or not, but oh well.

[wiretwister]

I have pretty much accepted things as they are, really have no hope or desires for anything else ... not a bp thing I just have lost that desire for stuff and change.... old age I guess...

[~Christina]

Originally Posted by lolagrace

I love contentment. For me, it connotes being at peace with my life -- calm, stability, satisfaction, pleasure.

Edited to add: I don't think of contentment as not having any plans or not wanting anything more, but it is a peace with how things are now. I don't "have" to have something else to be good with life . . . But that doesn't mean I don't have hopes and plans; it's just that my happiness doesn't depend on those things absolutely having to come to fruition.

I couldn't have said it any better !

[BadWolfC]

Not for me it isn't... I always need something to look forward to. Something to chase after, to get to. I always have to set new goals. Gives me a reason to get up in the morning.

I'm not sure I could ever settle for contentment, purely because it means this, what I have now, is the sum total of my life. I can't live with that, in fact I don't want to live for that. What is the point of being alive just for the sake of being alive. No. I may be struggling to find the will to fight, but I will never give up the desire to want more than the life I have now.

Yes I have learned to live within my limitations, but that does not mean that I have to accept them long term and continue to be bound by them. I think it is important to continually push those boundaries, as at times they move, both for the good and the bad. Testing them also means that you are not giving up on yourself.

[Homeira]

Adjusting my goals to fit my level of functioning, has brought me some contentment. I used to always feel guilty over not reaching some goal that was to ambitious for me. I used to feel guilt and shame about not managing to reach my too-high ambitions, and I also felt ashamed that I could not live up to other peoples expectations of me. Contentment has a lot to do with accepting myself and accepting my illness, and to not compare myself to others.
Not having constant stress over all the things I felt I should do, has opened up a space in my life where I can allow myself to feel contentment. On a good day that is... Contentment is enough for me, since it is healthy and it makes me more stable. I think that contentment is the same as happpiness.

[Wildflower4]

Originally Posted by Homeira

Adjusting my goals to fit my level of functioning, has brought me some contentment. I used to always feel guilty over not reaching some goal that was to ambitious for me. I used to feel guilt and shame about not managing to reach my too-high ambitions, and I also felt ashamed that I could not live up to other peoples expectations of me. Contentment has a lot to do with accepting myself and accepting my illness, and to not compare myself to others.
Not having constant stress over all the things I felt I should do, has opened up a space in my life where I can allow myself to feel contentment. On a good day that is... Contentment is enough for me, since it is healthy and it makes me more stable. I think that contentment is the same as happpiness.

Couldn't have said it better. I hate when I have over committed and have to back out so I'm trying to be much more cautious when planning and find some contentment with what I can handle now. I think that's the tricky part.

[vjdragonfly]

I have been content for a long time and recently that has become an issue with me. Yes, I am happy for what I have in my life, but I feel like life has become stagnant.

Originally Posted by Marsupilami

I'm not sure I could ever settle for contentment, purely because it means this, what I have now, is the sum total of my life. I can't live with that, in fact I don't want to live for that. What is the point of being alive just for the sake of being alive. No. I may be struggling to find the will to fight, but I will never give up the desire to want more than the life I have now.

Yes I have learned to live within my limitations, but that does not mean that I have to accept them long term and continue to be bound by them. I think it is important to continually push those boundaries, as at times they move, both for the good and the bad. Testing them also means that you are not giving up on yourself.

But this assumes what you have in your life is not positive and only "existing". I wouldn't call that contentment at all. Your description connotes that contentment is giving up on anything moving forward in life.

I am extremely content with my life. I have a loving husband and three great sons. I have a job that I'm good at and will keep me going until I decide to retire. I have activities and people I am involved with.

I don't "have" to have more. I'm pretty content with what I have. It isn't perfect: my husband is seriously ill, money is always tight, occasional problems with the kids or stress at work, etc. But nonetheless, I feel pretty blessed to have what I do have. That's contentment.

Does that mean I don't branch out and try new things? No. Does that mean I don't have hopes and dreams or make plans? No. Of course I do. BUT . . . I can remain content without having to constantly strive for more. I have a wealth of blessings. I can remain content even if my life isn't everything I might dream of . . . I'm not just existing day to day; I'm living a pretty active, satisfying life. If I wasn't, then I don't think I would call that contentment. I don't have to constantly be fighting for more. To me, that wouldn't be contentment at all. That sounds incredibly stressful to constantly feel the need to be "driven" to be okay with life.

I agree with everything you have said Lola. But what I was trying to say and perhaps didn't word it too well, was that even with my bipolar, my bipolar life now is not what it was 2 years ago. It is worse. My drive it to get back what I have lost, because I 'think' it is reasonable to get back to where I was.

That goal maybe unreasonable, hence the reference to pushing and testing the boundaries....I have not worked out what is reasonable and what is not. Once I find out, then the contentment will come

I wonder if it is an individual personality thing? I learn more from mistakes rather than successes?

So I like contentment but I want to strive for more.

[LadyShadow]

Contentment is enough. We should never stop learning to better ourselves, doing things or just living. But being content is a gift to ourselves. Like being kind to ourselves, gentle to ourselves, and learning to love who we are.

We are bipolar, beautiful and wonderful beings.

[LettinG0]

Originally Posted by PlatinumHeart

Contentment is enough. We should never stop learning to better ourselves, doing things or just living. But being content is a gift to ourselves. Like being kind to ourselves, gentle to ourselves, and learning to love who we are.

We are bipolar, beautiful and wonderful beings.

Yes, this.....

[LettinG0]

Originally Posted by lolagrace

I love contentment. For me, it connotes being at peace with my life -- calm, stability, satisfaction, pleasure.

Edited to add: I don't think of contentment as not having any plans or not wanting anything more, but it is a peace with how things are now. I don't "have" to have something else to be good with life . . . But that doesn't mean I don't have hopes and plans; it's just that my happiness doesn't depend on those things absolutely having to come to fruition.

This ^^ is what I want.