Black Hole, galactic core of Messier 87 (Event Horizon Telescope) |
Have you ever had an overwhelming desire to do something that you know is bad for you? Perhaps you're being driven by an unconscious wish. Still despite all your attempts to avoid temptation, there’s always a point of no return. Sometimes it’s a feeling of deprivation. Even though it’s pain masking as pleasure, you may conclude you caved into such impulses so many times, it no longer matters. It’s just one more sin. Tomorrow you will start with a blank slate. You’ll have the chance to be good again. You only have today goes the old saw, yesterday is done with, tomorrow has yet to be. Of course this unrelenting sometimes destructive urge is a description of addiction, the exemplification of delusory pleasure. Pornography or food or alcohol may produce a high that’s followed by a crashing withdrawal that can only be palliated with a dose (usually larger) of what’s already been administered. It’s a paradigm of many activities in life, of pent up needs to exact revenge, telling the truth (when it’s not asked for) or pursuing a goal with no limits—i.e. knocking your head against a brick wall. Do you deserve a reward or are you looking for an excuse for one? Are you treating the pain of pain or the pain of life, in the case where you take one Percocet too many after the procedure. When to say no and when to say yes? That’s the question. Do you desire happiness or are you simply edging toward the event horizon of a black hole?
Read "The First Law of Emotional Thermodynamics: Longing is Directly Proportional to Self-Hatred," by Francis Levy, HuffPost