If you pay attention to news and politics, you’d think life is nothing but The Rolling Stones’ chorus, “I can’t get no satisfaction.” But that’s not how it is for everybody. In a world of whiners, some people find a way to joy. Drop a comment below to share what gives you satisfaction.
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26 replies on “What Gives You Satisfaction? In a World of Whiners, Some People Find the Way to Joy”
Rising to a challenge… and solving it.
Inspiring and comforting; thank you. The miracle* of information going in through our eyes and coming out through our hands. *Assembly required. Results vary. Lincoln-Herndon Law Office, Springfield, Illinois, c 1840s:
1/12th scale model, Lincoln-Herndon Law Office, Ashby & Jedd, 2018, Kentucky Gateway Museum Center, Maysville, Kentucky:
I’m get satisfaction from having learned and practiced how to listen and how it helps my marriage. I was having some marital issues years ago when I learned that no matter how ridiculous that I thought a statement my wife would be, I should not justify or defend myself in the argument. I learned, with the help of others, that I should reflect back to her that I heard what she said so that she knew that I heard her. I wouldn’t “win the argument” but if I did I would lose the wife. Because, no matter whether a feeling that she has is logical or factually correct, it is real and true for her and she just needs to know that I hear her. As a consequence, we are both much happier.
It’s not about the nail.
Speaking of not fearing death, my wife and I are so glad this earth is not our final destination. And speaking of honesty, we used to be Amazon sellers and I purchased 10 items at Target to re-sell on Amazon. When I got home, I noticed they only charged me for one. The elderly gentleman who checked me out scanned one of the items and failed to enter “10” into the computer.
I noticed as soon as I got home, so I drove back and paid for the other 9 at the customer service desk, thereby cutting into my Amazon profits on that particular item. Ha!
Bill’s comment about the day and moment that he lost his fear of death put me to mind the poem High Flight by J. G. Magee.
A moment of pure grace.
local TV station always played “High Flight” as a sign off at night(remember when tv stations actually signed off?)–I memorized that poem and never forgot it. It is a beautiful short poem that I bet millions of young folks committed to memory
Bill, Zoe, explain Joy.
Went through life wandering most of the way, but slowly it dawned, there must be a path to follow, finally bringing great satisfaction even while finding it was one I knew of since childhood. I am, the Way the Truth and the Light.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life” Without the way, there is no going. Without the truth, there is no knowing. Without the life, there is no living.—-David Jeremiah
Having read the comments below, it strikes me that all of us would have had different answers at an earlier time in our lives. Is this what maturity really means? To be satisfied with the life that we have and neither yearn for a life we don’t have nor regret the results we didn’t get.
At one point in life in my early 20s I would only have been satisfied with the proverbial corner office and large salary that came with it. Through the normal ebbs and flows of life (what some might term “Trials and Tribulations”) I realized that I was striving for things that were not important and would never be satisfied.
Ronette is in her final year of college and I am the same age my dad was when I was at the same point. What satisfies me is very different than what I thought it would be. I wish I could tell my dad that I understand him much better now. He’ll be gone 10 years soon and I still miss him.
Now, I derive great satisfaction . . .
From a making a well-prepared meal for Mrs Ron and I.
From tearing down the mantel and installing the shiplap and new mantel that Mrs Ron wanted (curse you Joanna Gaines 😉 ).
From finally getting my yard to start really looking good, to the point where that neighbor whose yard had always looked great walked down to mine and told me how good it looked.
From having a paid off home, even though others couldn’t understand why we lived so frugally. (oh, and 3 paid off vehicles)
From having my wife put her head on my shoulder and fall asleep on the couch because she is content and relaxed.
From spending time at church helping others.
From having a child who questions everything and doesn’t always agree with me, because she thinks for herself.
From 1000 simple things around me that the 21 yr old college graduate would have never understood.
Aside from the satisfaction of being married to the best woman I have ever known, met, or otherwise (and wondering why she chose me) for the past 47 years, and watching our children in their successful lives with loving families, I would say vocation provides satisfaction. If you are doing what you do for the glory of God (and that includes marriage and family), then you can be very satisfied with life on earth.
Outside of the usual family and friends considerations, nothing gives me the satisfaction of a day on the water with a rod and reel in my hands. The only problem with that is the certainty of it ending. I don’t even care if I catch anything or not, though that’s always a bonus. I love eating fish and there is no fish better to eat than the one that was swimming around earlier that day.
I love my family and friends too so a super bonus is when I get to spend a day on the water with one or some of them. There are very, very few things more satisfying than seeing a son, a grandchild or a buddy reel in a nice fish.
A lot of what Zoe listed as satisfaction is mine as well. Add in mowing the lawn when it needs it, even if I am exhausted. Making sure the refrigerator has the foods and drinks my wife wants, so she does not have to go downstairs even when I am exhausted. Feeding and walking my 4 dogs when exhausted, and then having them “kiss” me. Note exhaustion plays into it? If it’s easy, its not as satisfying. You know, being a responsible adult. I also get satisfaction when my wife hugs me for little things. Also when one of my dogs puts her head either in my lap or on my shoulder, sighs and goes to sleep. I just can’t bear my self to disturb her, and wait as long as possible to wake her.
A job well done is a reward in itself.
I’m a dental technician working in a dentist’s office (the point being that I’m in the same building as the patients). I’m lucky in that I work for a dentist who is willing to take the time necessary to get the best results for the patient.
Life happens, and oftentimes we’ll see patients who have had bad teeth for a very long time (if you tell them a joke, their hand immediately flies up to cover their mouth). When I can make a set of dentures for someone like this, I get to improve their lives! They come in zombie-like. They leave with a whole new personality. Confident, excited, smiling, a lot of them crying at the same time.
One lady had sacrificed all her adult life, spending very little on herself, so she could provide for her kids. By the time her kids had grown and left the house, her teeth were in pretty bad shape, as she denied herself even dental care. When she got her new dentures, she was overwhelmed, and insisted on going back to the lab to meet and thank (and hug) the guy who gave her a new smile. It was an honor to be that guy.
Satisfaction doesn’t even begin to describe the feeling. So, in my job, I never know which day will be payday, but it comes more often than most, I suspect. I’d likely do this job for no money, but that’s just between you and me!
Beautiful – taking such joy from your work and giving so much in return. I’d say you are a lucky man, but luck couldn’t make you the man you are.
Thought provoking. Made me realize how little time I spend thinking about what does give me satisfaction, though I experience it many ways every day, large and small – mostly small:
Tending my garden and watching it grow from newborns to fully grown – on a daily basis the changes are insignificant but when I have to leave it for several days or a week I’m always amazed at the changes that have occurred during my absence.
Making a meal featuring something just harvested from my garden.
Having a life that provides what counts for me as essentials:
Healthy, free of pain, physically able to do what I want to do,
Living in a peaceful and safe neighborhood, in a comfortable home,
Financial security, with enough to give to worthy causes and support content creators who provide so much pleasure and broaden my knowledge of the world.
A good balance of work and leisure.
Being part of a business that provides quality fertilizer additive products for farmers who grow highly nutritious fruits, vegetables, and grains, and which nourish the soil as well as the people who eat what is grown in that soil. It gives me great satisfaction knowing our products leave the soil healthy and abundant with life giving properties after harvest.
Harmonious family relations.
All the peace and quiet I desire, with just enough spice to rarely experience boredom.
Access to enjoyable entertainment, and the many avenues to continue learning about things that interest me, like BW.com, for instance.
Perhaps what gives me the greatest satisfaction is knowing how fortunate I am to have little first hand exposure to so much of what ails this country – don’t have to worry about being cancelled or called a racist; I don’t fear being attacked, raped or assaulted; while I live in a very progressive town, I have the choice not to be involved or even very affected by it; if there are hateful people around me, I don’t know them. My neighbors are friendly and we help each other.
I have everything I need, and want for little.
Thanks, Bill and Zo, for giving me this opportunity to share a little of what gives me satisfaction for which I am so grateful. I needed the reminder.
LYNDA, love the list of blessings. Just wait for the day that Harris/Biden figure out how to tax our blessings.
😊… and then the air we breathe.
I find satisfaction in giving/helping others. Now I have learned that giving a person a fish may be easy, but that doesn’t solve the problem. Often you have to let the person get quite hungry before they are willing to even ask for lessons on how to fish for themselves. Once this change happens the reward of my giving time, effort, and resources actually bears helpful fruit. I am most satisfied when something I have done improves others lives, happiness, and chances of success through their experiences. The hardest part is watching the ignorant headed towards a brick wall and actually not preventing the impact. Lessons are not learned without consequences. The repercussions of an action are the greatest teachers. Kicking a cactus has a long lasting educating effect.
I think many people’s lack of satisfaction is in that they only achieve it by controlling other people’s lives. And that is always going to be a rather ephemeral joy, because you are always going to be able to find new ways in which people ‘are doing it wrong’ and feel the need to correct that too. It’s a natural side effect of deriving satisfaction from control that you will never be satisfied with the level of control you have.
Deriving satisfaction from your control of yourself, that is much more ‘filling’.
Start by just being grateful for the opportunity to accomplish stuff and following through. I am in my 70’s and there have been many accomplishments that were satisfying these days my satisfaction is derived from the community I surround myself with. That includes online and irl.
My 2020 ended with my father having died suddenly in April (Non-Covid), watching my mother slowly dying from Dementia (she finally passed a month ago), and being on my fourth employer during the year. Throw in the Kung Flu and what it did to Little Bob’s schooling along with the side effects and…
When I wake up in the morning the first thing I do is put on my wedding ring and give thanks that I get one more day in this world with Sister Babe and Little Bob. As bad as my 2020 was, I know damned well that there are many who fared far worse
i like giving money to great grand kids.