LUCKY DAY THINKINGWritten by Terry L. Sumerlin
The Del Lago Golf Course, near Lake Conroe, was beautiful. It was a nice fall, south Texas morning. Well, as nice as 95 degrees gets in mid September. I’d already spoken four times in two days, and was to speak two more times before heading home. A round of golf, with good friends, sounded like a great way to relax. The way I play golf, I probably should have chosen to relax over a good book.We had played several holes and were having a great time, when we came to a 150-yard par three. All three of us hit our tee shots and were getting ready for our second shots. Since we were playing slower than two fellows behind us, we decided to let them play through. We were watching for ball. Don was standing off to left of green, Robert was standing on green and I was to right, sitting in golf cart. We saw fellow hit. But, we never saw ball. Whack! Suddenly, I heard something that sounded like a hammer hitting a two-by-four. Then I saw Robert grab his head. I was terrified, and fully expected my friend to go down. He never did. As I covered short distance from cart to Robert, not knowing in what part of head he’d been hit, unthinkable flashed through my mind.
| | Happiness Versus PleasureWritten by Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
The following article is offered for free use in your ezine, print publication or on your web site, so long as author resource box at end is included, with hyperlinks. Notification of publication would be appreciated.For other articles which you are free to use, see http://www.innerbonding.com Title: Happiness Versus Pleasure Author: Margaret Paul, Ph.D. E-mail: mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com Copyright: © 2004 by Margaret Paul URL: http://www.innerbonding.com Word Count: 719 Category: Personal Development Happiness Versus Pleasure By Margaret Paul, Ph.D. We are a pleasure seeking society. Most of us spend our energy seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. We hope that by doing this, we will feel happy. Yet deep, abiding happiness and joy elude so many people. There is a huge difference between happiness and pleasure. Pleasure is a momentary feeling that comes from something external – a good meal, our stock going up, making love, and so on. Pleasure has to do with positive experiences of our senses, and with good things happening. Pleasurable experiences can give us momentary feelings of happiness, but this happiness does not last long because it is dependent upon external events and experiences. We have to keep on having good experiences – more food, more drugs or alcohol, more money, more sex, more things – in order to feel pleasure. As a result, many people become addicted to these external experiences, needing more and more to feel a short-lived feeling of happiness. Thomas sought my counseling services because he “had everything” – his own successful business, a lovely wife and children, a beautiful home, and time to enjoy life. Yet he was not happy. While he had momentary feelings of happiness while watching a ball game or socializing with his friends, he also felt anxious and depressed much of time. In fact, anxiety had become so bad that he was having almost constant stomach pain, which his doctor told him was from stress. As we worked together, it became apparent that Thomas’s main desire in life was to have control over people and events. He wanted others to do things his way and to believe way he believed. He was frequently judgmental with his employees, wife, children and friends, believing that he was right and they were wrong and it was his job to straighten them out with his judgment and criticism. His energy would become hard and tough and he would be like a steamroller in his efforts to get his point across and get others to do things his way. When it worked and others gave in, Thomas felt a momentary pang of pleasure. But pain in his stomach kept getting worse and worse, which is why he decided to consult with me.
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