{"id":3338,"date":"2026-07-06T18:09:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T18:09:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3338"},"modified":"2026-07-06T18:09:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T18:09:56","slug":"silver-linings-finding-contentment-in-everyday-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3338","title":{"rendered":"Silver linings: Finding contentment in everyday life"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Susan De Haan is not one to complain or look backward. She has cancer and her doctors told her that she likely has six months to live. That was almost six months ago.<\/p>\n

Read more What to know about Trump\u2019s call with FIFA over Team USA\u2019s red card<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSome people tell me that I\u2019m living on borrowed time,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t think like that. I\u2019m still just doing the things I\u2019ve always done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Susan is a service missionary at the Family History Library in St. George. Her routine has not changed since she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to meeting the relatives for whom I\u2019ve done genealogy work,\u201d she said. She is content, satisfied and unruffled about her situation. <\/p>\n

Older women are more likely to be content than older men anyway, according to a surprising amount of research. They have perhaps learned that all their desires may not be fulfilled, that the world isn\u2019t organized to please them, and that their children are not hanging on to every word of advice or counsel. They are more likely to accept things as they are rather than pine for \u201cthe good old days,\u201d stew over missed opportunities or even worry about the future. <\/p>\n

Let it come. Whatever it may be, let it come. <\/p>\n

Not so with many men. We are used to being \u201cup and doing\u201d and making our mark on the world. Consequently, as we grow older, we are more likely to see the world passing us by. Men are often those, as Dylan Thomas suggests, who conclude that \u201cold age should burn and rave at close of day,\u201d and then \u201crage against the dying of the light.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Do not go gentle into that good night<\/i><\/p>\n

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight.<\/i><\/p>\n

Rage, rage, against the dying of the light.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Dylan Thomas, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rather than \u201craging against\u201d the unfolding uncertainties of his future, Mike Judson has found that gardening is a way for him to meet the demands in his head to \u201cdo something\u201d without relying on others\u2019 permission or approval.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I watch plants responding to my attention and ongoing care, it feels really good,\u201d Mike says, describing how it gives him a \u201csense of perspective\u201d he struggles to find in any other way. <\/p>\n

For instance, one tomato seed can turn into 25 pounds of tomatoes. One watermelon seed can produce a hundred pounds of watermelon. Where else can you find such abundance? Only in nature can you find this type of arithmetic at work, this type of generosity \u2014 from a single seed to bushels of fruit.<\/p>\n

In the New Testament, Paul tells us that he has learned to be content regardless of his circumstances \u2014 whether in need or plenty, well fed or hungry \u2014 through gratitude and reliance on God: <\/p>\n

Read more Silver linings: Is etiquette old-fashioned or still relevant today?<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDo not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God,\u201d he wrote to the people of Philippi. \u201cAnd the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.\u201d <\/p>\n

Buddhism similarly acknowledges the importance of contentment with a related emphasis on meditation and mindfulness in achieving it. Contentment here is not only becoming satisfied with whatever we have and wherever we are, but also relies on living fully immersed in the present, without fault-finding in others or ourselves. <\/p>\n

The popular TV soap opera \u201cThe Young and the Restless\u201d \u2014 in its 53rd season and still going strong as the top-rated daytime show for more than 30 years \u2014 suggests that restlessness is ubiquitous among younger folks especially. <\/p>\n

The young are restless. Research from Trinity College Dublin suggests that while completing assigned tasks, \u201cmind-wandering\u201d occurred about 27% of the time among older adults, compared with 45% among younger adults. <\/p>\n

Contentment itself can be fleeting. Circumstances can change overnight. The death of a loved one, a drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, an undeclared war or a report of a hantavirus outbreak can affect our sense of contentment. Social media, friends, neighbors \u2014 even the news \u2014 can remind us that what we have is not only limited but also vulnerable to forces outside our control. <\/p>\n

However, the widely quoted work of Viktor Frankl, who spent three years in a Nazi prison camp, suggests that we can find contentment regardless of our circumstances. In his book \u201cMan\u2019s Search for Meaning,\u201d Frankl tells the stories of ordinary people who \u2014 despite horrific conditions \u2014 were sometimes able to resist despair by holding fast to meaning, purpose and hope.<\/p>\n

Those who found a kind of contentment developed ways to work creatively, establish deep bonds with others and imagine a different future than what they were currently experiencing. <\/p>\n

Instead of raging against an unfair world or trying to control the uncontrollable, these courageous souls found a remarkable freedom in the immediate present. None of this involves a passive surrender to our circumstances; it is an active choice to find meaning within them. It\u2019s the bravery to look at an uncertain horizon, a terminal diagnosis or a simple patch of dirt, and decide to be present \u2014 right now \u2014 and experience fully whatever is here. <\/p>\n

Read more Deseret News archives: The first All-Star baseball game was a blast<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a restless world where everything can change overnight, how do we find the courage to be content?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"yoast_head":"\nSilver linings: Finding contentment in everyday life - American Movers Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3338\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Silver linings: Finding contentment in everyday life - American Movers Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a restless world where everything can change overnight, how do we find the courage to be content?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3338\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Movers Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-06T18:09:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=3338#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=3338\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af\"},\"headline\":\"Silver linings: Finding contentment in everyday life\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-06T18:09:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=3338\"},\"wordCount\":904,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=3338#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/7647f1a51c1a1675a4e204a9037f81b1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Lifestyle\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=3338#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=3338\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=3338\",\"name\":\"Silver linings: Finding contentment in everyday life - 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