False Pleasure

What is left in your life if you don’t buffer?

What would the world be like if you never overate, overdrank, overspent, overworked, overexercised, overpeople-pleased or overFacebooked?

What would be left?

When the big snow storm this winter took out our power, I was a little frightened.
No computer?

No kindle?

No TV?

No radio?

What is left?

Well, I could think. In my head.

And read paper books.

And meditate.

And shiver.

And then the next 23 hours…

Well…

Hmmm.

All these electronic devices I rely on are false pleasures.

They are pleasures that I am using to try to feel better.

External things I am trying to use to create internal emotions.

False pleasures never feel as pure as true pleasure.

A lot of us use false pleasures to keep from being alone with our thoughts.

We are buffering and avoiding:

Boredom.

Shame.

Fearful thoughts we have been pushing down.

We have gotten out of the habit of feeling our bad feelings.

I needed the break from false pleasures.

When we stop buffering we will feel pain.
And that’s okay.
That’s the way human beings work.

​​We are not going to die even though it feels like it. 

If you didn’t try to buffer, and felt all the feelings, what would be left?

When we trade in the false pleasures for true pleasure (like listening to the sound of falling snow and making hot cocoa from scratch) we gain confidence. 

And more confidence creates a feeling of empowerment. 

Which creates a feeling of well-being. 

And the more well-being, the more you contribute to the world.

That feels like the best kind of true pleasure to me.