Most of us wish things were different than the way they are.
This is my understanding of the First Noble Truth of Buddhism, which is often translated as “life is suffering”.
The suffering is not as dramatic or obvious as one might think. It’s sneaky suffering and it can be with you all day, every day and you not even recognize it.
When we don’t feel how we want to feel or things aren’t going as we think they should, we often respond by trying to change the way we feel.
This is where the hedonic treadmill comes into play. This term, which was coined way back in 1971, refers to our human tendency to maintain a steady degree of happiness despite external circumstances, good or bad.
For instance, if I feel a little down in the dumps, I might go buy a box of cookies from the local market in hopes that eating sugar will send me back to my usual happiness set point.
Or maybe I could buy a new piece of cycling gear or something for the motorbike.
Other folks can easily find themselves having an extra glass of wine or maybe sneaking a cigarette in the backyard.
Most of us can find ourselves endlessly scrolling through social media hoping for a little “hit” that will make us feel better…or at least feel different.
I think we all know these tactics don’t work for very long. We feel bad about the calories we ate or the money we spent or the hangover we have.
So how can we stop jumping on the hedonic treadmill in an effort to change the way we feel and just BE with the way things are?
Well, we can’t. Or, in theory we can, but I’ve never me anyone that has been able to do it for any long period of time.
So, the question is not so much how do we get off the treadmill, but how can we avoid getting on as often as we do?
Or, when we do step on, being as mindful as possible that we are, yet again, reaching for a solution that won’t work for more than a few minutes.
This is easier said than done. I have a fairly low success rate, but the fact that I’m able to do it at all is 100% better than I was doing before. Right?!
So the next time you feel angry or jealous or sad or lonely, try and watch your mind. Observe what it wants to do to make you feel “better”. Watch what you start to crave!
And if you choose to crush a bag of cookies, try to maintain as much awareness as you can. “Is this cookie making me feel better? No…how about this one?”
Cultivating some awareness about the mere fact that you are getting on and off the hedonic treadmill can, in fact, help you change the way you respond to life.
You’re not gonna be perfect, and you’re not supposed to be. But being a little more aware of your actions allows you the opportunity to make better decisions about how you want to respond to this life.