Overall, Chinese culture promotes the spirit of challenge from self development perspective. It’s almost every Chinese parent’s motto to teach their child to keep seeking challenge instead of sitting on what has been granted. That being said, accepting what was granted and be happily satisfied might not be a bad choice either. Many Chinese would agree with that too.

Therefore, this expression in Chinese 安于现状 (ān yú xiàn zhuàng) can be used both in a positive way or a negative way. All depends on the context you’ll put it into. Literally this Chinese idiom can be translated as “to be happy with the status quo”. It is mostly used to describe an attitude towards life.

Let’s have a look at it’s usage in a positive way:

    wǒ shì gè ānyúxiànzhuàng de rén, wǒ duì zhuīqiú mínglì méiyǒu duōshao xìngqù.

    我是个安于现状的人,我对追求名利没有多少兴趣.

    I’m peaceful with what I’ve got so far, I don’t want to fight my way up in this area.
    1. an-yu-xian-zhuang-e1

Or in a negative way:

    tā de tàitai zǒngshì mányuàn tā tài ānyúxiànzhuàng, bù qiú jìnqǔ.

    他的太太总是埋怨他太安于现状, 不求进取.

    He’s always so peaceful with what he guf? He definitely needs some motive to be more active.
    2. an-yu-xian-zhuang-e2

What kind of person you are? Are you a 安于现状的 person? Or the opposite?