Imperfect theories

I've been noodling about with an imperfect theory for ages now, turning it over in my mind, unable to make it work but unwilling to let it go.

I had a thought that really the best thing we can do is make the best of what we are given. So in any given moment, have a job and enjoy that job. Go and see a movie and enjoy that movie. Live in a house and enjoy that house. But as my Zen-Like Friend reasonably pointed out (damn you, reason, damn you), that implies that you shouldn't then be grasping for anything else. So, essentially, you're living in a house with a bunch of morons, but you're making the best of what you're given, so you have to enjoy that house, really make it work for you, rather than frantically finding a different job and saving like mad in order to escape the house you're supposed to be making the best of.

You should just be happy with what you have.

I'm not sure where to go from there. Are the ideas of being happy with what you have and working for something better mutually exclusive? Should they be?

This brings me to another theory I used to have, which is that the ultimate goal should be contentment. The moment you feel content is the highest achievement the world can offer. The Best Friend called that boring.

So now I have two imperfect theories, and a desperate desire to move, and I only know what I know: that I'm coming up to a year of living in Milton Keynes and while I dislike it for so many reasons, I have a wonderful job, a good salary, and a great car, and those three things make everything else less, well, shitty.

I don't know. I really don't.