Contentment. (Lessons from Dota 2 trading)

Contentment is probably the single most important thing in life. It will give you the reason to smile, the reason to give, the reason to love and be loved. It will teach you that life is not just about chasing, getting and always wanting some more.

But don't get me wrong. Contentment does not imply the spirit of make-do, for the simple reason that make-do suggest that you are settling for something less, and that, in itself, is not contentment. You can go on living with the same things, but you will want more, and you will never be happy. You are just an opportunist waiting to strike, an epitome of greed.

Neither does contentment equate to stagnation. It does not mean that you stop move forward because you have what you need to have. Contentment merely implies that you set a goal, move forward and achieve it, give yourself a pat on your back, a reason to smile, and a break to relax. And you set another goal. Another informed goal - One that you can quantify, one that you will know when you achieve it. Most importantly, one that will grant you the satisfaction of fulfilment when you achieve it.

So, what exactly is contentment? How will you be contented?

To answer this, we have to question, ourselves. What do we want? It is easy to be an idealist and claim that you want a of CAP 5.0, to have a nice car, to live in a nice house, to find the love of your life and settle down, and so on. But wait. Think again. Is this really what you want?

Take for example, if you chase a CAP of 5.0, you will start to frown upon the guy across the class actively participating in the tutorial. "He's just trying to get more class participation marks." And you won't be happy. You will constantly bother yourself with scoring higher, doing better than your counterparts. You will think of ways to push yourself up, or pull the others down. You will be sceptical about every single thing your classmates do, and you will try to outwit them in every possible way.

Alternatively, if you view your experience in school to be a process of learning, a process of knowledge acquisition, things will be different. The guy across the class questions the mental models of the issue, builds exposure about the example and clarifies the definition of topic. The other guy in class, now, is helping you to learn; to become a more knowledgeable person. Your lectures will now be bits and pieces of additional information to aid you in your process of knowledge acquisition. And you will go to school happy, for you know that you are becoming a wiser person, a more knowledgeable person each day.

So, ask yourself, just what exactly do you want in a year's time, in five years' time, in ten years' time, at the end of your life. Because it is impossible to be contended if you, yourself, are not sure of what you want. You will be lost, not much different from the people you often criticize.

To never stop chasing is one of the important thing in life, but to chase blindly is one of the most foolish crime you can commit.