The fountain of content must spring up in the mind, and he who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts and multiply the grief he proposed to remove.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
Truth just oozes from this quote. Contentment flows from a spring, buried deep inside each of us. Some springs get overgrown with weeds, while we are still children. Some are covered by debris later in life. But no matter how clogged or hidden, it exists and is just waiting for discovery.
Looking for it in someone else or in perfect external conditions will leave you still searching, no matter who you love or what lofty station you inhabit. Finding the spring cannot be achieved by looking outward, because the path to it travels inward.
Once it is tapped the possibilities for satisfaction are limitless. When you free yourself from the burden of seeking elsewhere what rests inside then nothing can upend you for long. And contentment will belong to you, no matter what else you own.
THINK ABOUT IT
LET IT GROW
THEN DECIDE
