We Listen to Pleasure; We Obey Pain

I wish I had written that line myself, but it has already been attributed to Marcel Proust.  Regardless, it resonates with me.

Each of us is attracted to pleasure.  We enjoy connecting with friends, eating our favorite meals, or spending time with family. We return to those activities that bring us pleasure such as camping, watching a movie, playing chess, or arguing in court.

But if we suddenly experience excruciating pain while relishing our favorite dinner, we will either call 911, or immediately leave for the nearest hospital emergency room. We will suspend “listening” to pleasure in order to “obey” pain.  This makes sense to me.

The life lesson I draw from this idea is:  continue to find more pleasure in my own life.

One pleasure-step I have taken is to practice “talking” to myself in a constructive way.  When I have an experience I don’t enjoy, I tell myself I have learned a useful lesson – and that I can apply that lesson to bring more fun to my life in the future.  In other words, I think positively.  After all, who talks to you more than anyone else?  You do.

If I don’t enjoy dinner at a new restaurant, as we’re leaving I tell my wife, “I’ve enjoyed both meals here.  My first and my last.”  She always laughs.  Humor brings us a lot of shared pleasure.

When I was fourteen years old, I came home from school with a pain in my abdomen.  That evening my parents called the doctor.  As a result, my dad drove me straight to the hospital where, that night, my appendix was removed.  The following week was quite painful, but even at that early age I said to myself, “This is great.  I’m going to remember this horrible pain for the rest of my life so I will better appreciate the pleasure that comes from the absence of pain.”

I am always seeking to expand my pleasure repertoire.  I often remind myself to enjoy the simple acts of breathing, or writing, or taking a walk.  Pleasure is always created in your own mind.

I recently visited the Mt. Wilson Observatory (which was the home of the largest telescope in the world back when I was born).  An astronomer there told me that, for sure, our sun will go nova in 4.5 billion years, and will engulf the earth. 

I’m not going to worry about what might happen in 4.5 billion years, or even what might happen tomorrow.  I am going to listen, as closely as I can, to all of the pleasure I experience today – including the writing of this blog.

Cheers!

Alan