Hello to all, just wanted to share the news that I've decided to aim for a life of pleasure. The question is, how to achieve that, by giving into lust and inappropriate sexual desire? I know from experience, that after experiencing some brief pleasure, I am totally miserable and it takes days just to BEGIN recovering. So it seems clear, that whatever it means to live a life of pleasure will require me to stay clean and sober, one day at a time. The truth is, I don't think a life of pleasure is really the goal. A life of happiness - of "Simcha shel Mitzvah" - is really the way to go.
Thank you Kedusha for this inspiring post; you hit the nail on the head! It is not "pleasure" that we really seek, it is "Happiness" that we all want. When we confuse the two, we have difficulty breaking free of our addictions. But when we internalize that true inner happiness is really the greatest pleasure that a human can achieve, we aim for a whole different life-style!
I would like to share with everyone an inspiring Shiur by Rav Noach Weinburg called "The Five Levels of Pleasure" where he beautifully defines what pleasure is really all about, and he helps us decide on our own what type of pleasures we really want out of our lives. (Download the Shiur in MP3 format by right-clicking on the link and choosing "Save Target/Link As")
Rabbi Avraham Twersky, a renowned psychiatrist who has written over 50 books dealing with human psychology, tackles happiness verses depression in his new book, "Happiness and Human Spirit: What Happiness is All About, and Why it is Important for You."
Rabbi Twerski was interviewed by Arutz 7's Tovia Singer about his new book and the secret to true happiness. You can download the entire interview over here (Download the MP3 file by right-clicking on the link and choosing "Save Target/Link As").