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…}
2 thoughts on “The Five-Point Manifesto for Contentment”
Comments are closed.
These are so simple, but so hard. 🙂 I’ll definitely be writing them down!
This is wonderful. Thank you so much for posting this!