Contentment and the Trap of “Just As Soon As”
In his quiet, profound book Contentment, Jungian analyst Robert A. Johnson offers a piercing observation about the way we chase happiness and fulfillment in modern life.
He names the subtle voice inside so many of us — the voice that whispers:
“Just as soon as I get the promotion, I’ll be happy.”
“Just as soon as I meet the right partner, I’ll feel whole.”
“Just as soon as I fix myself, I can finally rest.”
This is what Johnson calls the “just as soon as” mindset.
It’s not always dramatic or loud; it can be woven into the smallest corners of our days.
We tell ourselves we will be content once we get past this one challenge, or achieve this one thing, or cross this one threshold.
But the truth is, there’s always another “just as soon as” waiting.
The Horizon That Keeps Moving
The “just as soon as” mindset is the human tendency to postpone life.
It’s a mirage of arrival — the belief that satisfaction lives in some future moment we have yet to reach.
From a Jungian perspective, this is not just a cultural issue or a productivity problem.
It’s a psychological pattern: we project our longing for the Self — the archetype of wholeness — onto outer achievements and goals.
We imagine that some external success will deliver the internal peace we crave.
But no job, relationship, or milestone can carry the weight of that projection.
The result? We keep moving the horizon, always chasing but never arriving.
What Happens When We Stop Running?
Johnson’s invitation is both gentle and radical.
He invites us to interrupt the chase and meet life as it is.
Contentment, he reminds us, is not earned by performance or arrival.
It is cultivated by receiving the present moment fully —
by making peace with both our capacities and our limits, our joys and our wounds.
True contentment comes when we withdraw the projection of wholeness from the outer world and return it to its rightful place:
inside the psyche, inside the Self.
A Jungian Reflection: Reclaiming the Self
In Jungian terms, this shift is not about lowering ambition or giving up dreams.
It’s about recognizing that the outer journey must be balanced with an inner journey.
When we place all our hope in outer achievements, we abandon the inner life.
But when we turn inward — when we listen to the psyche, tend to the shadow, engage the unlived life — we discover that many of the treasures we seek have been waiting for us all along.
Contentment does not mean we stop growing.
It means we stop postponing our right to wholeness.
Key Takeaway
The deepest lesson Johnson offers is simple but life-changing:
Contentment doesn’t come after you conquer life.
It comes when you turn toward your own soul.
It’s born in the quiet moments —
when you pause, breathe, and allow yourself to receive what is here.
The work is not to stop longing, but to bring longing home.
In Closing
At GoldenMythos, we explore the old stories that hold timeless truths.
The “just as soon as” myth is one of the most powerful of our age — and also one of the most exhausting.
What if the work is not to chase harder, but to listen deeper?
What if contentment is not waiting for you at the next summit, but is whispering from within?
As you move through your days, I invite you to notice:
Where is your “just as soon as”?
And what would it mean to set it down — even for a moment?
Follow me for more insights on myth, meaning, and the journey toward wholeness.
And I invite you to reflect: What have you been telling yourself you need “just as soon as”?
Feel free to share in the comments — I’d love to hear your reflections.
