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dominotw • yesterday at 2:27 PM • 5 replies • view on HN

don't you just go back to your old habits once this realization has passed.

we were desiged to want more it impossible to override that design.


Replies

chrisweekly • yesterday at 3:05 PM

It's not impossible (and I'd substitute "evolved" for "designed").

Yes, wanting "More" [time, money, love, status] is pretty firmly ingrained as an advantageous trait. But you can override your instincts (e.g. declining a drink when thirsty, if you learn the glass of water contains poison). And it is possible to learn to want what you already have.

How? Practice three things: Compassion, Attention, and Gratitude. (Pick any two, and the third will follow almost automatically.)

That's the central thesis of an excellent book, "How to Want What You Have" by Dr Timothy Miller. It changed my life.

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jmathai • yesterday at 3:48 PM

> The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. - Psalm 23:1-2

The interpretation of this I love most is the visual of a sheep, satisfied enough that they lay down instead of grazing or drinking. This posture is mentioned repeatedly in the Bible.

I imagine most religions and philosophies have similar.

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pizzafeelsright • yesterday at 3:57 PM

Not if you have a transformed and renewed mind. Once you taste the fruit of life, drink the water, eat the bread, drink the blood - nothing else will suffice.

This is a hard teaching and not all can accept it. Those that do will find peace, life, meaning, and rest.

smolder • yesterday at 2:59 PM

No, it isn't. Think about monks and so on. Some people live properly modest lives, not hedonistic ones.

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1-more • yesterday at 3:12 PM

> we were desiged

says who?

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