A Quick Announcement Before I Begin Today’s Post – My new book, BoundlessIs now available for ordering!
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I grew up in the India of the 1990s, when life was simple and contentment wasn’t something you had to search for. It was built into our days.
Our house was small, our possessions few, but our lives fell full in a way that’s hard to explain today.
Summers meant playing cricket in dusty bylanes, not exotic vacations. Afternoons were spent lying under a Slow Ceiling Fan (which often Didn Bollywood due to regular power cuts), listening to old songs or reading the same comic books Over and Over Again.
A bottle of gold spot or a softy ice cream was a luxury, and the Sunday evening movie on Doordarshan was an event the entry family Gathered Around for.
Looking back now, I realise we didn’t have much. Yet, Strangely, We Didn’T Feel Like We We We WERETH NYTHING.
Somewhere along the way, however, that feeling faded. We Grew Up, The Country Changed, Markets Opened Up, and Along with New Possibilites Came NEW DESIRES… and New Restlessness. The idea of ”enough” got pushed further and further away.
It wasn’t anyone’s fault. When you grow up with limited options, it’s natural to want more when you final can. But somewhere, we forgot that the simple joy of contentment doesn’t automatically grow with our bank accounts.
There’s a word in our old Indian wisdom for this. IT’s santoshaWhich means contentment.
In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, santosha is listed as one of the five niyamas (Personal observations) essential for a meaningful, good life:
Santoshatanutamah Sasukhalabh: Yoga Sutra 2.42
Translation: From Contentment (Santosha), The Highest Happiness is Attained.
Now, some people may MISUNDERSTAND, but santosha Doesn’T mean Resignation. It’s not about giving up, settling, or stopping your efforts to improve your life. It’s some more subtle and powerful, and is actually the ability to recognize what is alredy enough, even as you continue to grow.
But i’ll be honest. Today, when someone talks about santoshaIt’s easy to roll your eyes. Contentment sounds like something private And I agree. Telling someone who is struggling to pay school fees or keep the kitchen running to “just be content” can feel incentive, even Cruel. It can sound like the kind of spiritual advice you give from an air-conditioned room.
YET, If I Look Back At My Own Childhood, I Remember that Most People Around Us then – Teachers, Small Shopkeepers, Factory Workers, Eveen MY Own Parents – DIDN MUTHY, But They Carried a kind of peace. They worked hard, they have their struggles, but they were waiting a race inside their heads all the time.
Life was not easy, but it wasn’t Empty Eiter. There was as much joy in a cup of tea as in a festival celebrated toge. Most of us didn’t use the word santoshaBut we live with realising.
It’s important to note here that the real meaning of santosha is not about stopping your progress. It’s about not letting the absence of something within the absence of everything. You can still Strive, Still Want to improve your circumstances, but you don’t have to postpone your peace until every every box is ticked. Being the truth no one tells you is that Thatay boxes never end. The mind has a habit of moving the goalpost every time you get close. What felt like “enough” five years ago Will not feel enough today.
Anyway, I was reminded of this idea of santosha Recently when I Visited My Childhood Home. The house is old now, the paint peeling, the lanes narrower than i remumber. But the neem and mango trees are still there. And the NeighBour’s Music Player (Earlier, it was a radio) Still Plays Old Lata Mangeshkar Songs Evening.
As i study there, I felt something I hadnight felt in a long time. It was the lightness of having nothing to prove, nowre to get, and Nothing More to Accumulate.
That feeling is santosha,
Anyways, Before I End, Here’s a small task for you: tonight, before you sleep, pause for a moment and ask yourself – If noting in my life changes Tomorrow, what do I alredy have today that is Simply Enough? It could be your child’s smile, a roof over your head, a home-cooked meal, or just the fact that you made it through the day.
That’s the Silent Art of santoshaWhich I think may be the most underrated secret to a good life.
The sketchbook of wisdom: a hand-crafted manual on the pursuit of wealth and good life.
This is a masterpiece.
, Morgan Housel, Author, The Psychology of Money
That’s all from me for today.
Let me know your thoughts on this issue of The almanack of good life Newsletter, and Ways I Can Improve It. Also, if you have ideas or resources you think i can share in future letters, please email them to me at vishal (at) safalniveshak (dot) com.
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