Well done @thecryptofiend! Agree in general, and the pleasure trap is one all of us have fallen in at some point. There's another aspect to this, and that's the habitual seeking out of "uncomfort." Now, the level of uncomfort you seek is up to you, but I use that concept to balance out the vacuous pleasures I drift through daily. I'm not self-flagellating, but as an example I've been taking cold showers every day of the week except Fridays. It's made my Friday shower way more enjoyable, I feel like I sleep better after a cold shower, and in general is a good reminder that I can still do uncomfortable things. It seems to make it that much easier to turn away from short-term pleasure potential. Exercising willpower by stepping into a full force cold stream of water seems to me to strengthen it, and I like having that much more control of my reaction to visceral experience. Again, thanks for writing this up, keep 'em coming!