Content But Not Complacement

It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, isn't it?  There are enormous pressures on us to produce - to become bigger, better, richer, more successful than last year, last month, yesterday.  Some of these pressures are external (boss, board, stockholders) while others are internal (our own drivenness and sense of  self-worth).  The result is that nobody is satisfied.  If a salesperson has an outstanding month, they are expected to beat it next month.  If a team wins a championship they are expected to win it again next year.  If a student gets a 4.0 one semester they are expected to repeat it the next.  Now I'm all for excellence but the constant striving for success is not healthy.  No one can continue to improve on yesterday, ad infinitum.  Success can never be sustained permanently.  Sooner or later things happen beyond our control that produce less-than-expected results.  That is life.  The problem is that when we don't obtain our version of success, or someone else's, we often feel like failures.

The issue, as I see it, with the 'success' culture of our society is that there is such an emphasis on performance that we have completely neglected (and, in some cases forgotten) to enjoy our efforts.  We are so busy looking to the future that we don't enjoy today.  What is interesting is that even Almighty God, after creating the entire universe in 6 days, rested on the 7th day and enjoyed His creation.  Do we really want to live our entire lives focusing on tomorrow to the exclusion of today?  I don't think so.  I think that, deep down, we all want to take time to enjoy our food, enjoy our family, enjoy our work, enjoy our relationship with God, just plain enjoy life!

Since I am a perfectionist, not so much with others as I am with myself, I am constantly pushing, wanting to get my church, my marriage, my children, myself, to the next level.  While I am making some progress it never seems to be enough!  After all these years I have come to a sobering realization - I am never going to be perfect, nor am I ever going to have the perfect family, or the perfect church, or the perfect anything!

In the midst of this overemphasis on performance and success I have developed a little saying that helps to bring balance to my life (when I let it!).  That saying is - 'I want to be content but not complacent'.  In other words, I don't want to just put my feet up on the desk and coast through life.  On the other hand, I don't want to work so hard that I neglect to enjoy the journey.  So being 'content but not complacent' allows me to work hard and enjoy today.


So, let's take the time to smell the roses, to listen to a child, to look at the sky and the mountains, to hear the sound of the birds in the trees.  Let's not allow tomorrow and the pressures of success to rob us of the beauty and satisfaction of today.

Father, help me to see each day as a gift from You and to give it as a gift to You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.