I Rejoice in What I Have
In Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy there is a scene where Oblonski comes to visit Levin in the country. Levin’s marriage proposal to Kitty, the one woman he loved, had been rejected recently and he had returned to his farm in the country. While at first devastated, his life in the country resumed and he was able to find purpose and meaning there with what he had. Oblonski was from the city and was a man of very low moral standards. He said to Levin after observing him in the country, “You’re a lucky man! You’ve got everything you like. You like horses—and you have them; dogs—you have them; shooting—you have it; farming—you have it.” Levin responded with this wise statement, “Perhaps because I rejoice in what I have, and don’t fret for what I haven’t.” The text states that he was thinking of Kitty, but he had learned not to focus on what he had not been able to obtain and instead rejoice in the life that he did have. That is wise counsel for all of us, no matter what we have in our lives....