Santosha

santosha anuttamah sukha labhah YS 2.42

From an attitude of contentment (santosha), supreme joy is obtained.

"There is no end of craving. Hence contentment alone is the best way to happiness. Therefore, acquire contentment." -Swami Sivananda

Today I am reminded to practice patience and be content and thankful for the present. I will always strive for more, and that desire will never end. With each achievement or failure, we go on searching and wanting only more. Instead of tapping my foot and bouncing back and forth with impatience, I am instead striving to reach a place where I can appreciate each moment for what it can teach me. 

At the present moment I am grateful for the following ten things: 

May I learn to enjoy vacuuming as much as this

1. The opportunities which have led me to this stage in my life. 
2. My amazing nephew, whose smile alone can turn a bad mood into a lovely day.
3. The lessons I've learned from failure. 
4. The humility I learned from living in the South. 
5. The joie de vivre I learned from living in France. 
6. The ambition and creativity I am learning living in New York. 
7. Those who showed me things I want to be, and those who showed me what I do not want to be. 
8. The way music can turn an ordinary day in to a extraordinary one. 
9. Choosing to spend my first winter in the north during one of the warmest, sunniest winters New York City has ever known. 
10. The happiness I take in making lists.