"You're brave, compassionate, kind: a content man. That is your secret, contentment; I am 24 and I've never know it....I'm forever in pursuit and I don't even know what I am chasing."
Harold M. Abrahams
Chariots of Fire 1981
Why are some content and others chasing contentment? Do we run the race of life, into the fire, or around the fire, just in case we get rejected or fear the burn? I have been told by many that I am not content; that I seek to find an opportunity to prove the world wrong, and I run in circles to win some sort of medal. Content seeker? Hmm..
If we continue to look at choices as either/or; right/wrong; good/bad; or black/white, we won't stop long enough to see that what's in the grey area of things is just as profound; just as important.
Some of us seek to find that solace in practically everything we do. The undermined right or wrong direction that leads to actual truth can sometimes be a falter; it can be an actualization. When we fall into the cloudy area in between the right or wrong; good or bad; we find ourselves in between what's deemed acceptable and non-acceptable. Once discovered, the outcome can leave us with a few un-answered questions and a few un-turned stones. I, as a either/or person, fight the struggle of contentment because I am never satisfied with either or, or.
When we know what satisfaction taste like, can we taste it long enough to realize that it doesn't have to end; that we can be content, and we can stop running?
In Chariots of Fire, two athletes compete in the 1924 Olympics. With the preface that they are both running for different aspiration, we follow the one running for God, and the other running for fame to escape prejudice. Isn't it of utmost truth that each of us have our own desires and our own goals in which lead us down the path we are on today? When I see others want to take away that power of understanding from someone; we fall a slim second to the rest; when our opponent passes us on the finish line.
Why do people want to crush other people's beliefs, morals, aspirations and successes? Can someone break down something that someone has known their whole life and lived by, in just mere minutes?
To be honest with you, I can't stand those people. They want to find their own contentment, yet, they can't be grown up enough to see that others are content, and they should just let it be. I know someone who is extremely content; they are so content that changing everything they've known their whole life would be mentally destructive. But, as people, we like to test the boundaries; we like to seek the thrill of pushing the limit. When it is time to face our own reflection we must take the time to stop staring into what we think we should be, and how others will be the catalyst to our own contentment.
I consider myself somewhat of an athlete. I run, I swim, I bike, (I really want to start climbing), yet, I push to be better at the physical, to win something with the mental.
It is cliche' to say that competition is contentment? It is cliche' to say that truth is inevitable? It is profound to say that conflict is inevitable, and therefore we must compete the man to compete the contention that we seek to win? Follow your own philosophy on life; we can't try to steal or take that away from others. If we end up finding contentment in our 20s, our 30s, or even our 60s; we must do that by knowing that we can't run the race by being in someone else's shoes; we have to put on our own sneakers.
"You can praise God by peeling a spud if you peel it to perfection. Don't compromise. Compromise is a language of the devil. Run in God's name and let the world stand back and in wonder." - Reverend. J.D. Liddell
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