Enjoy the Journey

"His friend and his wife were no longer enough for his being, filled with great desires and noble ambitions."  (Jose de Alencar, Iracema, 93)

As I was reading this section of Iracema, I noticed that Martim lives in a beautiful area that is peaceful and calm, has plenty of food, a beautiful wife that cherishes him and a bond with a friend that is comparable to a brother.  He seems to have everything that someone could want.  So why is it that he is no longer content with what he has?  Is this human nature or just an unappreciative man?

As I pondered these questions, it made me think of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Again like Martim, they are given everything that could make them happy, a beautiful area that is peaceful and calm, plenty of food, and companionship, and yet, we find that they too are not content with what they have.  I’m sure like Martim, they started out with being content.  As time went on, Eve found herself wanting more and when tempted to partake of the forbidden fruit, she realized that this was the only way that she could gain more knowledge and experience more, so she partook of it.

It makes me wonder if even at the beginning of the Earth there was this desire for more, that maybe it really is in our human nature.  But as we discussed in class, there is this fine line in being content with what you have and desiring more.

Leo Babauta said “So contentment isn’t a matter with being content with your situation in life and never trying to improve it.  It’s a matter of being content with what you have – but realizing as humans, we will always try to improve, no matter how happy we are. If we don’t, we have given up on life.”

I think he is exactly right.  We can be content in any situation we are in life, however, it’s not going to change that we always want to improve.  So improving really is human nature, but it is also a matter of being content in the changes that we make in life.  As President Monson says, we need to “enjoy the journey.”