What does it mean to be Content? (Pt 2)
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November 2022 Focus
The second Niyama: Santosha, Contentment
Our world tells us to never be satisfied. To push for more. Whether it’s in gadgets and wealth, or status, followers, and friend count, or body ideals and physical power. The chant of more, more, MORE is constant in our social conditioning. What a curse it is to never be satisfied. The counter to this poison is gratitude. When we truly value what we have, we see that our needs are met in uncountable ways. The scarcity mindset, the fear of losing what we have, leads us into hoarding, obsession, harming and lies. The mindset of abundance allows us to be generous, loving, free from grasping and living into truth.
A Turkey Day Story of Abundance. My most abundant Thanksgiving wasn’t one of the many noisy thanksgiving parties with crowds of friends and family and a 20lbs Turkey, but a tiny celebration with a few roommates and one sad attempt at pumpkin pie to represent the feast.
I couldn’t find pumpkin in Switzerland so I tried to use a gourd which was lumpy and stringy without a food processor. Then the filling was too much for the one pie shell that I’d bought, so I used pieces of bread in a shallow dish for the other pie and put both in the oven. I think my ratios were off because these pies took forever to cook and I kept checking and checking, after an hour and a half they were still soupy. I checked one more time and, the proper pie, slid and flipped over in the oven splattering goo everywhere. (^ this is the actual pie) When the mess was cleared and the sad “pumpkin” and I guess “pie” had set, I called my roommates to the kitchen. They were excited to try something new and thought it was great. Despite the strange preparation, sharing that pie tasted like home. I explained the American holiday to my roommates from various countries and as we talked about what we were thankful for. The beauty of gratitude linked us across other differences in cultures, languages and life experiences. The lumpy mess of life can turn into connection, friendship and contentment when we let it.
This year whether you celebrate thanksgiving or not I invite you to say thanks. Thank the people you encounter for the small kindnesses of opening doors or delivering food. Thank the people who support and care for you, your friends and loved ones. Thank the Earth for her bounty by protecting and caring for her and if it’s part of your faith practice, give thanks to God for your blessings.
“I’ll be happy when…” is a recipe for unhappiness. Celebrate the little things here are now. Santosha is the struggle of letting go of judgment and embracing gratitude. Write your story where you are, not from where you want to be or where your past selves thought you would be.
