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It’s In Your Self Interest
Focusing on the Daily Stoic Meditation for August 23 — It’s In Your Self Interest, as outlined by Ryan Holiday in the bestseller 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance and the Art Of Living.
“Therefore, explain why a wise person shouldn’t get drunk — not with words, but by the facts of its ugliness and offensiveness. It’s most easy to prove that so-called pleasures, when they go beyond proper measure, are but punishments.”
— SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 83.27
Pleasure becomes punishment
Almost every single form of pleasure — sex, alcohol, smoking, social media, procrastination — becomes punishment in one way or another.
These forms of pleasure grant momentary release, escape and happiness. They give you a distraction, perhaps from your obligations or your worries in life, and so you look to them constantly, hoping that they can constantly grant you release.
Even though they grant short term pleasure, they bring long term pain and punishment.
These forms of quick pleasure are highly addictive, and it’s easy to see you become trapped by them, unable to stop engaging with alcohol, sex or social media. The minute you taste how pleasurable these things can make you feel, it’s insanely hard to let go of them.
Due to this, they bring long term punishment.
- They distract you from your life…
