Contentment vs. Boredom

When a person feels entitled, they demand things to sustain their euphoric happy feelings. Often time this translates into chasing money, or a high status they feel they are due. Unfortunately, when you are on this path, bhappyoredom quickly settles in. This is because with the entitled mindset, the things they currently have soon lose their fun, and they have to find something new and shiny. It takes more and more to satisfy, and a continual stream of new things are needed to fight the boredom. They never learn to be content with what they have.

I saw this firsthand in high school, where many students came from privileged families. After years of being conditioned to get new things, they adopted this standard as “normal” and there was no need to be content with what they already had. Eventually, healthy and edifying things to satisfy oneself are exhausted, so I witnessed them move on to other destructive things, like drugs, alcohol, etc. Sadly, this was the case with many of my friends, who turned to drugs out of sheer boredom. It destroyed many of their lives. And if it wasn't drugs or something destructive, often times their pursuit of more "stuff" was like an addiction - and they needed their next fix or would be unhappy. 

Recently I watched a movie called Happy, a documentary that followed the lives of people with varying degrees of happiness, and explored the question "what really makes people happy?" Tim Kasser, a professor of Psychology at Knox University, is interviewed in the documentary, as this is an area he has researched. In the documentary, he had this to say:

“We know from a decade of research at this point is that people who were more oriented towards money and status and image were reporting less satisfaction with their lives, they were more depressed, more anxious, we found they felt less vital, less sort-of energized in their day to day life. On the other hand, intrinsically-oriented people  (personal growth, close relationships and desire to help others) were more happy. They were reporting to be more vitality, less depression, less anxiety.”

The bible matches up with what the latest research is finding. Notice how these verses point out contentment is found outside the pursuit of money and good circumstances:

 

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it." 1 Timothy 6:6-7

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." Philippians 4:12

So contentment vs. boredom I believe is another "litmus test" for determining the difference between an Entitled Sinker or a Character-Developed "Swimmer." They are opposed to each other, and entitlement definitely can have a role in which side one can be on.