The Urge To Seek New Stimuli

''Work vanishes those three great evils: boredom, vice and poverty. ''
-Voltaire

We thrive on novelty.

We’re always thirsty for a new way to withstand our worst enemy – I’ve named boredom ladies and gents.
If novelty factories we’re a thing, I’m telling you right now, the lineups would become massive AF, because hey, who would say no to some unlimited refills of new exciting stuff, right?

Well come back to earth my lovely friend, and don’t think that this love bliss of yours is going to last forever because mommy has some news for you: the person you’re currently obsessed over will sooner or later become the person you hate for chewing food near your ear. Yes that’s right. Oh and If you want to know if your new fling is truly wifey material, wait till the infatuation wears off and observe her reaction after she steps on a Lego while you try to soothe her pain. Come see me afterwards 😉

There’s a handful of ways to counteract hedonic adaptation and the first one is the following:

Appreciation

First, the new becomes old before you expect it, and if you don’t make appreciation and gratitude a daily part of your oh-so typical routine, chances are that you’ll always find yourself running around in circles trying to get a new hit of excitement.

Secondly, who on earth decided that boredom was boring?
The best way to change your behavior, is to change your mindset. In my day to day life, there’s never such a thing as boredom, but that’s because I make it that way. You create your own reality, and if you want to put the odds on your side, it’s a fantastic idea to re-examine your perspective on the different facets that compose your life.

Boredom is the enemy because we see it as an enemy. Life isn’t meant to be exciting at all times. Nor are relationships. In fact, both are meant to be not-so-exciting-but-still-nevertheless-awesome.

One of the beliefs of our culture is that if your relationship does not make you happy, you should leave it asap. My answer to this is ask any long term couple that (still loves each other and are happy with each other) and that has been together for a long period of time, and if they don’t tell you that they never felt unhappy with each other then you can officially declare them the exception to the rule – because yes, this is real life and real life isn’t meant to be happy at all times.

The stimuli that form your day to day environment will lose their appeal over time, especially if you stop noticing them as the so gorgeous and sexy things that they once were. Our mind would go cray cray if we would constantly pay attention to all the stimuli that surrounds us. It’s kind of impossible. Nonetheless, it’s a goal worth striving for to not leave the ''old'' stimuli fade into the background when you become used to them.