Food for Thought

I just read this while cruising the web and it made an impressive impact on me and made me stop and think:

Practice “negative visualization” to “forestall and reverse hedonic adaptation.”

This is the idea that things that make us happy once, don’t make us as happy the next time.  We work hard to get something that we really want, but then eventually we get used to it and want something else.

As William B Irvine wrote, he recommends the practice of “negative visualization” to “forestall and reverse hedonic adaptation.”  He explains how we’ve probably gotten used to some things that we take for granted, so he says “we need a technique for creating in ourselves a desire for the things we already have . . . the easiest way for us to gain happiness is to learn how to want the things we already have.”  So, he recommends taking some time every so often to imagine losing the thing in your life that you value.  Try this out for yourself.  What do you have in your life that would make you very sad if you lost them?  How would losing them affect you?  Does this practice make you more grateful for them and help you to be less likely to take them for granted?

Kids, who would like this book as a gift?  I might get it for myself, as well.