The Shortcut To A Good Life Nobody Wants To Hear
Real joy goes beyond fleeting moments of pleasure.
pixdeluxe | Canva Did you notice? The more we do some things in life, the more we want them. These things tend to deliver a heady dopamine hit, which makes us feel great for a while until we get an itching for more. That itch is often quick to show up after apparent satiation.
Doughnuts, sex, feel-good TV, video games, cigarettes, junk food, chocolate, and caffeine — all are addictive but never deliver total satisfaction because they raise our chemicals before dumping them shortly after. The crash makes us want more.
Most of these dopamine pleasure sources come from artificial stimulants. In other words, they are not things we find out in nature, like a beautiful sunset or a splash of water after a long dry walk in the desert (except the sex part, but this was never intended for continual use like us modern degenerates think it was).
When we feel unsatiated and unfulfilled from things we didn’t need in the first place, we're dragged off-track. Because there’s always that fix to hunt down.
We don’t need tons of sex, doughnuts, or TV show binges. They just make us feel good. But we feel good because we’re tricking our bodies with dopamine jolts that gradually numb us.
The tech-fueled world has exasperated this because it has given us a dizzying array of fake stimuli that make it seem like we’re having more novel experiences. This will become yet more intense. And the more we get, the more we want.
No wonder we crave novelty. No wonder we continually need to escape, travel, buy a new book, or get some hit — some taste of something fresh and thrilling. We diminished our sensitivity in our crazed pursuit of novelty. This all pulls us off the real path. The needed path. The path of creation. Because you can’t create if you can’t feel. We’re bored because we avoid exploring the depths of pure awareness.
It’s out there. But you deny it. Sadly, most will never know this is the most thrilling place you can go. You feel better here. More pure. Less weighed down. Closer to inexplicable chuckles and occasional belly laughs.
The sense of aliveness you’re looking for is in the absence of consumption and instant pleasure. You may find a little there, fleeting — that’s ok. Just don’t let it replace the energy you need for what’s worth the most.
Real joy is found where consumption and quick-fix pleasure are not. What might that look like for you?
Alex Mathers is a writer and coach who helps you build a money-making personal brand with your knowledge and skills while staying mentally resilient.