What matters in life?

Working in the environment that I am in, it's hard not to get caught
up in the insane slew of reports, proposals, student feedback/
complaints, etc etc that we have to deal with every day. Recently,
most of my colleagues have been very stressed out papers and research.
Apparently there is some movement afoot to raise the bar, so to speak.
And everybody is worried sick about it.

I got an email from a dear friend recently. This friend is married
with small children, with a considerate, God-fearing spouse and a well-
paying job. Everything would point to an idyllic life. However, my
friend struggles with a serious illness that not only severely affects
quality of life, but it also possibly life-threatening. And the
doctors do not seem to know the cause nor the cure for the illness.

Every time I get an email from this friend, first I start wondering why.

That question will have to stay unanswered until the day we see God.

The next question, is, inevitably, what are the things that matter in
life?

When I was in GS earlier this month, I was very impressed and touched
by the teachers there. They sacrificed a lot to obey God's calling and
go to care for some children whom nobody else cares about. Life is
dreadfully boring there, and there's not much in terms of material
goods, either. And yet, they were just like normal people, not the
holier-than-thou martyrs that you'd expect them to be.

Except that if I am to use one word to describe them, it would be
"content".

How many of us can really claim contentment with our daily lives? And
if we can't, why?