THE CURSE OF CONTENTMENT According to Thomas Edison, the American Investor, scientist and Businessman "Discontent is the first necessity of progress". It is a prerequisite to leading the life of your dreams. From a very young age, people have been told especially in Africa that contentment is great gain and this has somehow been ingrained into our subconsciousness to always be satisfied with our current state. The problem with this philosophy is that Children grow up with the belief that they can do little or nothing when faced with life's problems and readily resign to Fate or settle for what I call the Good enough syndrome. This is a mentality that has caused a lot of people to live a mediocre life and should be confronted because it undermines our ability and weakens our resolve to turn around unfavourable situations. So people just sit back and accept things by getting complacent, comfortable and contented. People with this mindset have low expectations and when they taste little success, they lose their drive to succeed, because unknown to them success is not a onetime thing but a continuous search to reveal the greatness that is on the inside. WHAT IS CONTENTMENT? Contentment has been defined as a mental or emotional state of satisfaction maybe drawn from being at ease in one's situation, body and mind. Colloquially speaking, contentment could be a state of having accepted one's situation and is a milder and more tentative form of happiness. Different cultures the world over emphasize Contentment as a virtue, some even going further to say that a man that has contentment has everything. Now, it is good to be happy with what you have or what you cannot change, but ultimately not being contented with the status quo is the fire that reveals the genius in us. In fact, when you look throughout history the of the world, people that accomplished remarkable things, were people that were not contented with their present state or that of situation around them. Discontent on the other hand is a restless aspiration for improvement. It is different from greed in the sense that it has to do with wanting to change or improve a bad situation from its present state to a better reality. While greed is an excessive or selfish desire to have more of something, especially more material wealth than one needs or deserves. It is one of the deadly sins, and it is motivated by aggressive covetousness while discontent is longing for something better than the current situation. FATHER THY WILL BE DONE There are two types of people in the world: Those who say to God, thy will be done and those to whom God says, alright, then, have it your way. People who settle for good enough and second best fall into the first category. They are contented with mediocre lives and when they taste little success, they become complacent and lose the drive to become more. They live life as if everything is a miracle and instead of happening to life, they sit back and allow life happen to them. The poor, the unhealthy, the unsuccessful and the unhappy are found in this category. Instead of accepting responsibility to alter their situation, they accept conditions as they are. They expect life to be easy and when they face life's test, they complain and murmur about how life is unfair to them. This is the place most Africans and African countries find themselves. I think Africans are the most contented set of people on earth. For a continent blessed with abundant natural and human resources, it should be among one of the leading continent in the world by turning its numerical strength and abundant natural resource into economic power. But this is not the case, it is the continent that has suffered and continues to suffer humiliation and derogatory labels like the dark continent, third world countries in international politics. Anyone who has observed the continent of Africa will come up with questions like why are we where we are? Why should a continent that is blessed with so much have so little? And Many people have tried to provide answers to why. Some people have said Africa is where it is because of what we are. This people imply that there is something wrong genetically with the African brain. Some say we are where we are because of where we are. This people say that the location of Africa, especially within the tropics is not advantageous to us. Some have proposed that the African sun is so hot that it has the tendency to fry the brains of its natives. Some also say we are where we are because of how we have been treated. These people contend that the white man didn't treat us well through evil policies like colonialism, imperialism, apartheid, slavery and so on. My answer is that we are where we are because of Contentment. Nothing destroys a people more than contentment. Because if people are satisfied with where they are, they cannot change what they have. In other words, you cannot change what you are not angry with. You have to be discontented with something before you can effect change, this is because progress rarely comes from those who are content and secure. It comes from those who have been unsettled by what they have seen. The story of the four lepers in the bible perfectly describes what discontentment is all about. The four lepers became dissatisfied with their situation and decided to take one of the greatest risks in the bible. And if they had not taken that risk, I wouldn't be using them as an example today. Discontentment involves two major ingredients, Desire and risk. So, if Africa wants to change those ugly stereotypes about her, it has to be discontented with the current state of things. The beautiful thing about discontentment is that it produces questions like Why, Why not, Why not me and why not now? And if honest answers are provided to those why, a paradigm shift takes place because discontentment starts when people stop wanting anything and this is when enlightenment appears. ALRIGHT, THEN HAVE IT YOUR WAY. According to Albert Einstein, There are two ways to live life, one is as if everything is a miracle and the other is as if nothing is a miracle. People who are restless and discontented fall into this second category. This category also boast of people who have made indelible impact and remarkable difference in the world by choosing to be restless. They do not sit back and allow life happen to them, rather they happen to life. These set of people are big dreamers, people with definiteness of purpose and people who defy all odds to change the status quo. They are not victims of other people's opinions and are not easily swayed from their view point and beliefs. They do not suffer from insecurity, low self esteem and self doubt. They believe that there is nothing like absolute security, so they controlled their destiny. When they get knocked down they do not sit around feeling sorry for themselves, rather they got back up because to them failure is only temporary and not final. Nelson Mandela, a man I regard as the greatest leader of the modern world was a perfect epitome of a discontented being. He worked very hard to train as a lawyer, despite the South African apartheid system making this very difficult for a black man. Against the odds Nelson Mandela was able to practice law, helping many black South Africans to survive in the apartheid system. When Nelson Mandela was sent to jail for his opposition to apartheid in the 1960s, there seemed no end in sight to the all powerful apartheid system of South Africa. But, against the odds, Mandela played a critical role in bringing about the end of apartheid and the first truly democratic elections. There is also the story of a black woman that decided to challenge the status quo. Rosa Parks could have easily been just another statistic in the American system of racial segregation. In the Deep south, black Americans were systematically discriminated against, but on one famous day in 1955, Rosa Parks made a stand and refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. Her brave action sparked a widespread boycott of buses in Montgomery,Alabama and began the civil right movement in America and Inspired Martin Luther King Jr. And recently, Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani schoolgirl defied threats of the deadly Taliban to campaign for the right to education. She survived being shot in the head by the Taliban and has become a global advocate for human rights, women's rights and the right to education. These people could easily have refused to confront the difficulties they faced even in the face of death, rather they embraced it and became inspiration to all of us. Don't fool yourself into thinking any of these people had it easy. You've gotta be willing to stake everything and be a badass, even if it's the most uncomfortable thing in the world. I believe you choose everything in your life. If you don't like something make a different choice. (OR accept that these are the circumstances you've decided to put yourself in.) This belief makes you take responsibility but is incredibly freeing at the same time – every element is within your control. WHY PEOPLE GET CONTENTED AND HOW THEY CAN OVERCOME IT. According to Abraham Lincoln 'My problem is not whether, you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure. So, how do we overcome this deep-seated pattern within us? It takes nothing short of a revolution! I believe the most rebellious, subversive thing we can do at this moment is to consciously choose to be happy and not easily satisfied. The first place we lose the battle is in our mind. Because it is ultimately our own thought that hurt us. We often find ourselves at war with our minds. Our minds lie to us and make irrational excuses because it wants comfort. It is afraid of discomfort, pressure and change. The mind is absorbed in its comfort zone, and anytime we try to stretch that zone too far, for too long, the mind tries desperately to get back to ground zero at any cost… including sacrificing our long-term health, happiness and success. These are some of the 'Contentment' lies our minds tell us: I CAN'T DO IT This is one of the lies our minds tell us to make us contented with our present state and to doubt our abilities. We become scared to take new steps out of our comfort zone and become pessimistic. So, here is the deal, If you go in expecting to fail, you have a great chance to do it. If I expected Deep Existence to wear me out, be unpopular, and waste my time, why would I write this? Pessimism leads to failure because it decreases the amount of effort a person will put forth. Success requires effort, which is fueled by the perspective that your efforts are not in vain. This is a common lie/excuse that can be countered by looking at the fact that other people no more capable than you have done it. You need to tell yourself, “If he/she can do it, so can I!” And with time you will see that you were right- you could do it after all. Truth be told, the only person who can tell you “I can't is you. If you hear those words echoing in the back of your mind, tune them out. Realize that your doubts and your faith have something in common – they both ask you to believe in something you can't see. You simply have to decide which one you want to believe. THEY ARE BETTER THAN I AM. You think just because someone else can, doesn't mean you can, right? You look for reasons they can do it but you can't – maybe he's a good writer because he has a better family background, she's way smarter than I am that's why she keeps scoring A's. I would like to get A's and B's but I guess C's are good enough. OK, fine, it's easy to find excuses: but look at all the other people who also have considerable obstacles and have done it anyway. Stories abound of people with disabilities or illnesses who overcame their obstacles to achieve great things. You too can join the league of such 'champions', by fighting against complacency, contentment and the good enough syndrome. Let me share one of my own experiences before we go on to the next point. When I got admission into the university, I never believed I could make a first class, I thought this kind of outstanding achievement was only meant for a particular set of people. Unfortunately I believed this lie for a long time. I didn't know that success is only restricted from those who restrict themselves from it, until I stumbled on a quote that changed by belief and mindset, 'That the ability to learn is not fixed and it can change through deliberate personal effort'. This was a paradigm shift for me. So I started seeing my own potential and realized I had caged myself with a lie. A SINGLE BATTLE DISTRACTS THEM FROM THE WAR It is disappointing to lose any battle. Sometimes it's devastating if your business fails, your book or script is rejected or you get an unexpected low grade in a particular course ( I think I can relate to this) anyone need a tissue? Oh come on! it's so sad! But the war is not over, is it? Don't fall into the trap of contentment here. If your business fails, won't you know several key things not to do next time? Objectively, it's a high useful learning experience. The optimal strategy in life is to focus on winning the battle you are in. Immediately after seeing that unexpected low grade, are you just gonna throw in the towel and change your goals or become contented or are you gonna re strategize and continue moving forward until you discover the greatness on the inside? The most successful people in the history of the world were the ones who could modify their strategy quickly, decidedly,and strategically. Life is full of battles, and the key is not letting any single battle distract you from your main objective in your “war”. EXCUSES- THEY BLAME EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING BUT THEMSELVES They blame their background, they blame God. If I wasn't living here.......if Nigeria's economy......if that hadn't happened....... Blaming everybody but yourself makes you contented with your situation by weakening your resolve to alter the situation. Its a very poisonous perspective through which to see life. Do you know what it really means? Excuses and throwing blame are the same way of saying ' I'm not in control'. Now that's scary. Excuses feel good temporarily because they keep you in your comfort zone, but don't be fooled, they can only hurt you. Accept full responsibility for where you are, and you'll have a chance to change it for the better. THEY GIVE UP As Winston Churchill once said, “Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It is courage to continue that counts.” Nothing could be closer to the truth. Persistence is the mother of all productive effort. Failures, small and large, happen every day to the best of us. The strongest, most productive people aren't the people who always succeed, but the ones who don't give up when they lose. In the heat of the moment when you feel like quitting, think about how far you have come and why you started in the first place. Oftentimes you’re a lot closer to making a breakthrough than you think. Some people give up their efforts when they have almost reached their goal, while others conquer their goals by exerting, up until the very last possible second, more vigorous efforts than ever before. Bottom line: Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit and contentment sets in. But when you learn to persevere, Grit sets in. CONCLUSION The great tennis star Novak Djokovic was asked how he turned his career around from being relatively unknown in the tennis world to being world number one. He replied, I kept on training hard, I was happy with where I was but I was not contented and so I developed a bulletproof mentality that one day I'm gonna be world number one. It's amazing, a lot of us think this is my lot in life and I can't change it and deep down believe it. If we choose to believe differently we get different results. Changing a belief is the reverse of how we installed the belief in the first place, and when you look at it like this you'll realise there's so much more you can do in life. Growing up, I had little or no dreams. My definition of success was comfortability. I just wanted to be comfortable, have my own house, a car, provide Food for my family and give my children good education. What if there is more? What if I can be bigger than those tiny dreams? If you are in an under resourced part of the world like Africa see it as an unusual opportunity for empowering leadership. So, rather than pray for a car, why don't you pray for grace to provide transportation for a whole city? Rather than pray for clothes, why don't you pray for grace to clothe a whole nation? And rather than pray for a home, why don't you pray for opportunity to provide homes for people in a whole nation? Be a Restless African. Finally, failure happens; none of us escape unblemished. But for every single person who has ever lived, the secret of life is an unflinching, inspiring little phrase that has shaped nations, bought freedom, saved lives, and fulfilled so many dreams….... DON'T BE CONTENTED WITH MEDIOCRITY. Patrick Emmanuel.

I read only the first paragraph and it made lot of sense, try to summarise it. True, contentment is a curse of average.