What is contentment?

What is contentment and how do I find it? I think contentment is not wanting for anything. Allowing ourselves, our minds, to be still and at peace with the knowledge that we do not want for anything at all. That we are just fine exactly as we are in this very moment and we do not need to change a thing. Mmmmmmmm........that feels nice.
I was at a yoga class this morning and at the end the teacher guided us to the point above and it was lovely. I wondered where we nomally are when we are not feeling like this. I suppose our minds are often somewhere in the future where we imagine that we will find inner peace and happiness when we have achieved this or that or the other thing. But what about right now? We can try to find our happiness, peace and contentment right this very minute. Try it....go on...............breathe in and out, close your eyes for a moment and let your mind settle into a contented place, a place of not wanting anything, a mind of accepting what is this very moment. Stay there for a minute and enjoy the feeling, sink down into it and let go of all struggle. Aaaaah...............
I am teaching about the mind of attachment tonight and it is this sneaky mind of craving that takes us away from the present moment and stops us from enjoying what is in front of us right now. Attachment takes away our contentment by creating a want in us which disturbs our peace. It stops us from being happy right now because it is a mind that is saying to ourselves that we need food, wine, to lose a few kilos, a holiday, a bigger house, a better relationship, a more fulfilling job, something from the past or the future, something, anything, whatever we don't have this very minute. But all the time contentment is waiting in the shadows for us to notice. Waiting for us to quieten the wanting for a moment and to appreciate what is in this very moment. To accept this moment as being exactly as it should be. To allow contentment to arise.
I was writing a little piece recently about happiness for a mag called "Spoonful" which I have mentioned here before. You can have a look at the website at http://www.spoonfulzine.com/ Anyway, I metioned this to a few people that I encountered that day and asked what they would say to complete the sentence, "Happiness is....." A friend I met in the street said "Happiness is not wanting anything. Just being." Thanks Natasha because that ties in perfectly with all of these ideas and I can also use it in my teaching tonight.
Have a wonderful day and be happy right here, right now knowing that all is as it should be.
with love, K.xxx