Views on contentment and happiness are formed based upon how life is approached within a society. Input from elders, peers, various external influences, and such are factors into the forming of specific perceptions. Contentment is a ‘state of being’ that encompasses and expresses ‘continuity of equipoise’. Ideally, contentment allows one to enter the fray while functioning with a minimum of imbalance. Happiness, an emotion, is approached along the lines of a goal that one can (strive to) acquire. Happiness facilitates an overlooking of issues that might normally warrant concern. Happiness and contentment can be cognized as ‘dipoles’ on a continuum or they can be interchangeably conflated. The interactions between ‘sender’ and ‘receiver’ provide context as to how (each of these) words are understood.
A specific belief or set of beliefs may exist amongst a group of individuals which will allow said group to be categorized within that commonality. Concepts within the group are aligned by perceptions and actions that are, at large, promoted and upheld. Those who are more contemplatively focused could comprise one group. External actions directed toward achieving are viewed as being aggressively temporal and fleeting. Attaining and maintaining a composed, internal state is that for which this group chooses to strive (i. e. contentment). There are those who focus more so upon acquisition and achieving through external means. These individuals seek for happiness through direct(ed) action. Any goals that do not require overt action are regarded as complaisant.
Contentment is a state best understood and exhibited as calmness of mind and being. The slings and arrows of daily existence cannot easily or noticeably perturb this state. It can be equated with satisfaction , with being satisfied. This is not a static mode of existence, nor is it an accommodation of sitting about listlessly. This ‘mindset’ facilitates taking on ‘real’, the encompassed highs and lows of ‘real’, in a manner that does not impede the capacity to exist in balance. There is a back and forth the occurs within being balanced, true. Contentment is the capability to mitigate the extremes of fluctuation that are concomitant with day to day living. within the process of living life.
The preponderance of western thought leans toward a striving for and the attaining of results, such as happiness. This overarching dynamic brings about an externalizing of actions, of living, of perceiving. Through experiences, be they mental or tactile, many associate with happiness as a result. To become happy is a means unto the end itself. Happiness is the feeling of exhilaration and elation. It is an emotional high that establishes within many a sense of empowerment. Happiness culminates as a result of the achievement orientation. It is seen as a positive endeavor that supports the positive mindset. There are highs and lows of emotionality that one encounters daily. The lows are eschewed and the individual seeks to establish and maintain the highs, the happiness. This is evidence of a constant cycle of ebb and flow, of avoiding and attaching.
The degree of overlap between these terms is small enough to allow for divergence in how they are applied yet, large enough that they are often used in analogous fashion. Happiness is valued as a highly prized and sought after emotion. Seeking happiness is to examine the quandary of ‘life while determining which steps to pursue to make life (more) meaningful. Contentment is relegated to the status of static languishing. That of having satisfaction with ‘things being as they are’. Yet, contentment has other connotations. Contentment means being as we are without seeking happiness from external sources. Contentment facilitates the ability to function without attachment. One can seek improvement on an external level but there is no connection to external circumstances, no condemnation of ineffective results. Happiness and contentment are often defined using similar terms, as well. Oxford Languages Dictionary: Contentment is a state of happiness and satisfaction. Psychology Today: Happiness is a state of well-being that encompasses living a good life, one with a sense of meaning and deep contentment.
As is evidenced, varying definitions of Contentment and Happiness exist amidst specific points of view. There is the active, externally oriented mindset, the point of view that gives credence to action and doing to achieve happiness. There is also the point of view that draws from a sustained, internal focus. Approaching highs and lows of life with an equanimous mind, by being with contentment as an expression of being. Either of these qualities provide benefits to the specific proponents. Each group, based upon tastes, upbringing, socialization and proclivities, will gravitate towards one of these extremes. The categorization of them as extremes is oftentimes blurred due to conflation; each is sometimes defined in terms of the other. There is then, no truly right approach. One must tread the path that they choose while giving to those who choose otherwise their own right of way.
Ab-Sutra Wellness and Fitness 