The Five-Point Manifesto for Contentment

It was the first pink book I’d ever read. At 19 I still thought women’s books were either stuffy or silly. I didn’t like floral prints or calligraphy.

But I also didn’t like my anxious heart so I gave this one a try.

Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow proved to be hugely instrumental in the course of my life. Simple principles, taken to heart, steered my heart toward joy. I still call to mind, often, the 5-point manifesto of contentment from the first few pages of the book. I recently re-read them, smiling as I fingered the penned-in stars I’d written almost 13 years ago. The same points are just as important today:

Never allow yourself to complain about anything — not even the weather.

Never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else.

Never compare your lot with another’s.

Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.

Never dwell on tomorrow — remember that tomorrow is God’s, not ours.

Simple. And simply powerful. Perhaps today you might put pen to paper and copy these down? Display them in a place you visit each day, and remind yourself to daily take each thought captive and choose joy.

{Thanks for choosing joy today, and thanks for reading…}