Is contentment something you do?

 I should not like G.K. Chesterton but somehow I do.

This aphorism is an example of why I like him:

True contentment is a real, even an active virtue — not only affirmative but creative. It is the power of getting out of any situation all there is in it.

That seems right to me.

It’s the idea that if you are paying attention, you will find an awful lot that is interesting and worthwhile in the cosmos. If you are too distracted to notice, if you sleep through the wonders, of course you’ll be bored.

If you take contentment as an activity, something you do, you might be surprised at how much of it comes to you, ending up on your doorstep as a gift.

I know that’s not true for everyone. But it has been true for me, and I suspect it might be true for quite a few of us.