Awareness

Pleasure becomes suffering

Pleasure becomes suffering
Photo: Dainis Graveris / Unsplash
  • What happens when you go to the gym and start your diet? It isn’t easy initially, but after a few days, it becomes addictive when you see some improvement, and you don’t want to lose the results. What looks like punishment to others feels like a pleasure to you. The same thing happens when you go out of your comfort zone. The whole process itself becomes rewarding.

  • Being disciplined brings happiness. Being disciplined doesn’t mean you’re uptight; it just means that you have control over yourself to decide and choose what’s good for you. What you eat and how much you eat, how often you work out, and whether you sleep consistently are all decisions that your levels of discipline and self-control can impact.

  • Do you have any smoking and gambling habits? How about drinking? Do you think it’ll still be a pleasure in the long term? Unfortunately, our perpetual temptation and desires now might become our suffering and regret in the future. This self-control is essential to eliminate what makes us feel guilty afterward.

  • Indulging in our guilty urges might even feel worse than resisting them. Think of both the times - first, when you enjoyed the pleasure, and second, the time you regretted it and loathed yourself. What felt better to you? And do you want to feel that again? Don’t you think that the desire lost its appeal? In that way, self-control itself becomes a pleasure.

But that’s just my take. Comment and share yours.


If this topic interests you and you’re curious to learn more – check out this book through this Amazon affiliate link that I thoroughly enjoyed – The Compass of Pleasure: How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning, and Gambling Feel So Good

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Written by Garv Chawla · Stoic of the Day
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