Be content with what you have.
—Hebrews 13:5
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius—no wonder he’s usually referred to as simply Boethius—was a Roman politician and philosopher of the early 6th century. He served in the court of King Theodoric the Great but fell out of favor with the king, was charged with treason, and imprisoned.
While in prison, awaiting execution, Boethius wrote the Consolation of Philosophy, which became one of the most influential works of the Middle Ages.
Boethius believed that regardless of circumstances, contentment was a personal choice: “Nothing is miserable but what is thought so, and contrariwise, every estate is happy if he that bears it be content.”
Paul was also in prison when he wrote: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Phil 4:11).
That’s a mindset worth cultivating.
You—only you—create the
climate of your contentment.