Sick To Death: The Disease of Discontentment

There is an epidemic sweeping through my town, and it’s probably spreading in yours as well. It seldom shows up with obvious physical manifestations, like chicken pox or hives does. Instead it’s subtle. The symptoms are most easily observed in conversation. Listen for:

“I wish……..”

“I don’t like….”

“If only….”

" I never get to..."

These are the symptoms of discontentment and it seems a lot of people have them. Unlike the common cold, however, discontentment is eventually fatal. It is a form of heart disease. Ignore the symptoms at your own peril.

Pediatricians used to recommend that parents keep a bottle of something called Syrup of Ipecac on hand in case a child suffered accidental poisoning. Ipecac induces vomiting, so the idea behind its administration was that if a child were to accidentally ingest anything toxic, caregivers could administer a dose of ipecac and cause the child to vomit up the harmful substance. Ipecac was not a “medicine”, and it didn’t cure anything; it just served to make the child sick. But in doing so, it could also force the dangerous toxin back out of the body before any additional damage could be done. And so it is with discontent.

If discontent has any intrinsic value, it has so only to the degree that it acts as a catalyst for change; change in our circumstances or change in our attitude about our circumstances. But beyond that, it is dangerous stuff.  

  

I can say with absolute certainty that I have never found any benefit in being discontented. The way I see it, discontentment should be no more a state of being than ipecac should be the mainstay of a diet. When discontentment arises (and it inevitably will), I recognize it for what it is: the need to purge. Something needs to go – either the negative circumstances or my negative attitude. But allowing discontentment to settle in while I passively sit and wish for a different life is not an option I allow myself. It is far too dangerous.

If you are experiencing discontentment, it’s time to do a thorough self-examination. Where does it hurt? What about your situation can be changed for the better: your attitude or your circumstances? If you are in a situation that can be changed through your own efforts – no matter how difficult – it’s time to stop the stomach-churning misery of it all and make the change. If you are not able to change the circumstances themselves, then you have no choice but to change your attitude about them. But either way, you cannot live long in discontent. It's time to purge. Negativity that goes unheeded is ultimately, and always, fatal.