Village Squire, 1981-04, Page 15ONE DAY AT A TIME
Discontent tempers complacency
It would be %%onderful, I suppose. if all
men and women could live at perfect
peace within themselves all the time.
Just imagine a world without pain and
problems, doubts and anxiety, hurt and
tears.
Such a world is the far-off dream of
visionaries everywhere who want to wrest
mankind from its sometimes miserable
condition.
Yet despite all the best efforts of the
centuries of philosophers and religious
teachers who have tried to show us the
way, man simply refuses to co-operate
and continues. day after day. to make
mistakes. to become unhappy and to fight
with himself. A more contrary being
never was created.
It almost makes me wonder if man's
incredible penchant for suffering is not
really his fault at all. Maybe our capacity
for discontent is a God-given. natural
quality. not be be feared or loathed in any
way. Perhaps unhappiness is as much an
in -born survival instinct as is our fear of
fire or that voice inside that keeps us from
walking in front of a speeding locomotive.
Much of the world's population is. at
this very moment. attempting to dispel its
discontent by sucking back huge quant-
ities of alcohol or by ingesting some other
drug. whether doctor -prescribed valium
or illicit marijuana.
Drug's of all description work too well.
which is one reason why they arc so
popular. But when the high wears off and
the morning after is here. we generally
discover that our discouragement has
grown and in fact has been added to by a
countless number of nagging fears.
Drug taking, including heavy drinking.
is a very ineffective way of dealing with
discontent in the long run and has the
demoralizing side effect of damaging our
mental and physical well-being, our
ability to work and to be productive and
our standing in whatever community we
live.
Discontent, to be truly useful. should
prod us to seek constructive avenues
through which we can be rid of it. It can
be the seed of a great harvest of
accomplishment if properly nourished.
Of course, I'm not talking about
chronic unhappiness- the endless low-
down feeling that incapacitates pegplc
completely and renders them totally
unable to help themselves. Unending
bouts of depression or the kind of
crippling anxiety that causes us to be
afraid to answer the telephone or to open
the front door. ought to be dealt with by
professional people. It's playing with fire
to try to heal ourselves when the malady
has progressed too far.
But there is much that any one of us
can do to move ourselves away from
discontent when it comes without trying
to escape the feeling.
Discontent is. a highly underrated
quality of mankind. Would North Amer-
ica be populated as it is today if
discontented Europeans centuries ago
had not been seeking a way to improve
their lot? Certainly. it was not the happy.
satisfied people in the Old Countries who
picked up and set out on an extremely
uncertain adventure.
Life would be unbearably dull and
stagnant if people were blissfully happy
all the time. which is why I'm very
suspicious of people who always wear
by Jim Hagarty
phony, sickeningly sweet sn►iles. who
always tell you they're doing great. and
who'll never admit to ever having a
problem or feeling of unhappiness.
If it wasn't for discontent. ‘►c'd
probably all still he living in caves. for our
ancestors would never have trial to find
more comfortable ways to live.
Whenever 1 meet someone today ho
is dissatisfied with his job. his home. his
church or his community. I don't automa-
tically write him off as just another
complainer. I now believe a man like that
is standing on the precipice of change -
and a better life for himself and for others
who depend on him.
Feeling miserable? Great!
Jim Hagarty is a freelance journalist and
former reporter for the Strat%ord Beacon
Herald. Responses to his columns nray he
forwarded either to the Village Squire or
Box 456. Mitchell.
Coffee. Tea
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VILLAGE SQUIRE/APRIL 1981 PG 13