Feelings of Contentment

[flow]

I'm curious, can you think of the longest period of time that you've been truly content? A year? A month? A week? An hour!? I find myself thinking, "I can't get no satisfaction" a lot. The fluctuation of moods is disheartening, I just wish I could find peace of mind all the time.. but that seems impossible, being INTP.

 

[Nightingale]

I was relatively contented during a period of my life in which I believed in the redemptory value of suffering.

But the key word there is "relatively". Even back then, I ended up dwelling a lot on the injustice and pain I saw, especially in my volunteer work. And I still knew I was weird.

I suppose sooner or later someone will pipe up to say that he or she is very content , but like you I am inclined to think that INTPness prohibits long-term contentment. We don't live in the moment.

 

[Waterstiller]

Damn you, imagination. I blame my feelings of discontent solely upon you.

But I also blame you for my greatest joys.

:shrug:

 

[Ermine]

For me, I'm not content for more than a few hours at a time. Maybe it's because I'm a teenager that's still on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, but I'm constantly alternating between a content sort of euphoria and a relatively neutral dissatisfaction.

 

[Duty]

I'm never content, just distracted. I get wrapped up in my current interest and only then do I forget how messed up my lifeless life really is.

Sounds depressive...sorry for that. :/

 

[nooli4]

Last year, after a particularly bad virus, I was really depressed for a few months. Then eventually I got over it. After a few weeks, I was depressed again. But a friend of mine said that those few weeks, I had seemed content, that I probably wasn't happy but that for me being content must be the equivalent of being happy. I asked why she hadn't told me before and she said that she didn't want to mention it in case it depressed me again and that she had liked seeing me more content. And, in retrospect, I think I was pretty content, but at the time, I didn't think about it. Which led me to the thought that maybe part of the state of happiness is not being aware of it. That, once you become aware, you start analysing it and thinking about it too much and that ruins it for you. But that's just a random thought.

 

[Spud147]

I'm finding patches of contentment pretty frequently as I age. I'm glad there are forums around like this for young people. I didn't take the personality test until very recently and it was like a light went on... I just said, "Oh, that explains a lot".

I spent many years in school with a nagging sense that I just didn't fit in like regular people. I didn't have the BFF (we moved a lot though so that has something to do with it). I didn't ever develop a ton of interest in fashion/make up like my friends.

Anyway, back to the point, as I got older I realized more and more that I wasn't "normal" so I've learned to fake the normalness as much as I can and the other parts I've embraced as my own unique weirdness. And I celebrate my inner weirdo (albeit quietly because I'm an introvert you know) now! Normal is completely boring and I like to think for myself.

 

[Anticitizen]

Reading a good book does the trick for me, generally.

 

[Vrecknidj]

Five minutes perhaps? Sometimes an hour. For the past 15 years I wouldn't say that I have that feeling for very long at a stretch. Probably never more than an hour.

Dave

 

[MrJones]

There have been very few events in my life that truly elicited an Uncontrollable emotional response. Most have been the calculated INTP 'emotions'.

 

[adastrac]

About last year around this time although I only remember that I was happy/content but I can't actually conjure up the feelings. Whatever the case, feelings of contentment never stick around =|

 

[Fleur]

I'm content everytime when it's silence and I'm completely alone. Then I can fully relax and wander in my thoughts.