Moral and spiritual values change in accordance with global influence. In the first place is wealth. The fact that happiness is not in him has long been forgotten, now there are other principles and mottos. But Horace also said: "He who has not learned to live, content with little, will always be a slave."
Rejoice at the minimum: good or bad?
What is hiding under the expression "live well"? Owning a luxurious mansion, buying another car, diamond caviar for breakfast? People, guided by the principle of consumer life, tend to surpass those around them. By and large, why does a person need another apartment or a cottage if he lives alone or has a small family? In order to rent, earn income and forget about work. The prospect is tempting, the appetite comes with eating, as they say. Once the proceeds received from the rental of the apartment will be few. There will be a desire to purchase another, so that it brings income. Then the income from both apartments will cease to be enough, the needs will increase.
Man strives for wealth, considering it a liberation from hateful work and the need to count a penny. But having lost his means, what such an individual will do is a mystery.
To be content with little, according to many rich people, is a sign of inferiority. Man cannot be happy living in poverty. It is bad to be poor - this is obvious.
What the poor themselves think about this, no one asked. Meanwhile, many of them are happy, not having even a hundredth share of wealth, without which life seems dumb to other people. And the concept of poverty is quite extensible. For some, poverty is one apartment, two cars for a family, comfortable furniture. Others consider poverty the absence of twenty mansions on Rublevka. This is exaggerated, but the concept of poverty can be different - a fact.
Of small joys, great happiness is made up. The ability to be content with little, to notice a miracle where others pass by is worth a lot.
Turning to Christianity
“Be generous, be content with little” is a statement in the spirit of gospel parables and narratives. The Lord himself said that the rich would not enter the kingdom of heaven, He ordered his disciples not to hold on to the blessings of the earth, caring for tomorrow. Jesus taught the followers of a simpler life, without the pursuit of profit, in modern language. Tomorrow will take care of itself, but there are birds who are content with little. They do not remain hungry, for the Lord feeds them.
There is a parable in the Gospel that tells of a rich young man. He was going to become a disciple of Christ, follow Him. When the young man expressed his determination, Jesus offered him to sell his estate, only then would it be possible to follow Christ. The young man was saddened, for he was very rich, and departed from the Savior. Money turned out to be more expensive than the Lord.
The article is not a call to hand out everything and live, hoping for a miracle. There is an old saying: trust in God, but do not be a lie yourself. Of course, people should work, earning a living. But there is no need to get involved in the financial component; there is enough for a certain standard of living - and thank God.
Children and their requirements
Should we be content with little when there is every opportunity for a better life? This is sometimes useful, especially for modern children.
Any parent seeks to give their child the very best. The prospect of living at work is not the most pleasant, but it doesn’t scare many, for the desire to satisfy the needs of the child, to ensure a comfortable childhood for him prevails over everything else. Parents work, the child lives in abundance, but grows burdock in a roadside ditch. Left to his own devices, he loses the company of mom and dad, simple family joys. Parental love and attention cannot be replaced with any luxury.
The child needs to be content with being small so that mom and dad have enough time for him. At the very least, to instill such a skill is simply necessary. When a child, cursing and indignant, demands another expensive thing, this is a good reason for his parents to think about his upbringing. The child grows up spoiled, he is not used to receive refusal and manipulates his family, arranging ugly scenes.
Baby money
Another hot question for many families: is it worth giving a child money? It is at the discretion of the parents, they know their offspring better than anyone. The problem is not money, but the level of consumption and saturation. If the child is not only what he has, tantrums and moods begin, one should deprive pocket money or give out a minimum. Let him learn to be content with little.
Happiness is easy
In all religions there is a mention that life is simple. For example, in the Qur'an you can find the phrase: "Be content with the small and you will not need." It seems unreal, for it is impossible to live by trimming oneself in everything, and not feel the need. And who wants to be satisfied with a minimum with the modern capabilities of people?
As mentioned above, happiness is in the details. People who are obsessed with the pursuit of wealth simply do not have time to notice it. Life passes by, days are similar to each other, emptiness appears inside, and there is no joy from the money earned. Pass the age limits, a person is aging. Here awakening comes, looking back, our hero is horrified. All his life he fled somewhere, did something, achieved and sought only in order to receive a reward with crunchy pieces of paper.
You cannot buy happy life moments for money. New Year's snow is not for sale, and trees are not dressed up to it by order. It is worth taking a look at the New Year's decoration, when all the trees and roofs of the houses turn white, a fairytale feeling is created. Previously, such a nature, only without high-rise buildings, was shown in cartoons and children's tales. Sometimes you need to postpone work, look out the window or go out into the yard to touch the beautiful.
What is hiding under the small?
Satisfied with small, what does it mean? Rejoice at what you have, be thankful for what is available. To be happy without looking at other people's lives, but to appreciate and enjoy your own.
In order to smile and feel happy, a little is needed: a warm, summer and sunny day, a butterfly on a flower, a drop of morning dew, the smell of freshly cut hay, a glass of fresh milk.
People living in villages and villages know how to be happy. They rejoice in what they have, a feeling of envy is unknown to them, and their life position can delight city dwellers. You can learn a lot from the village in terms of attitudes to life.
Conclusion
To be content with the small or strive for the heights is a person's personal choice. Each has its own path, life goals and objectives.
At the end of the article, I would like to point out that the ability to stop in time in a crazy race for benefits is very important. There may come a day when a person regrets neglecting simple pleasures.