 |
| Snuffles, who is utterly and metaphysically fulfilled by a dog biscuit |
“In cartoons, when the characters slurp down some delicious food or drink, they smack their lips and seem totally sated,” Dan Harris wrote. “But in the real world, it doesn’t work that way.
“Even if we were handed everything we wanted, would it really make us sustainably happy? How many times have we heard from people who got rich or famous and it wasn’t enough? Rock stars with drug problems. Lottery winners who kill themselves.
“There’s actually a term for this — ‘hedonic adaptation.’ When good things happen, we bake them very quickly into our baseline expectations, and yet the primordial void goes unfilled.”
Deb Murphy wrote:
ReplyDeleteWe, who are lucky enough to do so, generate our own happiness. It's not steady, not guaranteed, and not a cure-all. External things that bring us momentary happiness or joy are lovely, but definitely not sustainable on their own. Appreciate the lows for the way they contrast with the highs.