Sunday, May 2, 2010

Satisfaction

After enjoying a large cup of frozen yogurt from my favorite place, Fraiche, I felt satisfied. Anyone who really knows me is aware of the fact that Fraiche is my favorite food in the entire world.

Nonetheless, this satisfaction was short lived. Soon after finishing, I remembered everything else I had to do that day and rushed off: my brief moment of pleasure gone. Later that day, I again experienced this peaceful feeling of satisfaction after a workout. Once more, it disappeared shortly after arriving as I remembered the presentation I had to prepare for the following day. Are we ever truly satisfied?

Upon thinking about this, I asked my high school aged neighbor whether she was satisfied at the current point in time. After thinking for a few moments, she replied, “I’ll be satisfied at the end of this weekend, because hopefully, I’ll have finished everything I need to finish. No, maybe I will be at the end of next week after I have finished all my tests. But then, I have finals to study for. I guess I’ll be satisfied when school is out and it is summer.” Will she really be content once her summer arrives? Probably not.

Human beings are always looking to the next thing. Once we achieve one thing, we are already looking ahead to the next. There is no such thing as an ultimate prize and thus we spend our lives on a journey, scrambling to reach the next level. Once we get what we want, we set our sights on something else: a never-ending cycle. It remains impossible to achieve incessant, absolute satisfaction. Once we reach even our highest goal, something else will come along.

Some questions: Do you believe there is such thing as true satisfaction? How can one achieve it? What is it? And are you currently satisfied? Why or why not?


Olivia

13 comments:

  1. Really well written Olivia. Overall a very great blog!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well said. And no, I don't think we can ever reach satisfaction. As Olivia points out, there is always another promotion or something to work towards.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great piece! good point, yes it is hard to ever achieve satisfaction. I guess it can last for a while, but there is always something else in life that is better. the grass is always greener!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree: satisfaction's unattainable, simply put. And that's a good thing as long as we keep working towards our next goal. Quality article.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Completely agree with the comment above. Satisfaction is not necessarily a good thing. Without it, we are always motivated and hardworking. And if we became completely satisfied with everything in our life, we would morph into lazy, selfish creatures.

    ReplyDelete
  6. you guys should do something on flying pigs

    ReplyDelete
  7. "never ending cycle" describes my life. I am guilty of being one of these people who is always after the next thing. although it is good because it keeps me persevering, I sometimes feel that my life is being destroyed because of my high expectations for myself. enough is never enough for me.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ohmygosh I have never read a better blog! Ever. This is amazing! Really gets me thinking! This is so true! When we will be truly satisified? Never? So much to think about! I can't wait for the next post!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is one gorgeous blog. I am LOVING it! This amazing article got me really thinking. It describes my life. Ahhh can't wait to read the second part!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. What an interesting perspective on life. Well said, Alit.

    ReplyDelete
  11. i think you are only satisfied when you are really old. old people at a certain point are too tired to do things anymore, they just enjoy their wisdom and the life they have had.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Interesting opinion maia. But what if they are not happy with the life they had? What if they are disappointed with their life????

    ReplyDelete
  13. I agree. Life is tough. I just wish we would all realize the big picture and think, hey, is it really worth it? Do I want to kill myself over this? No, no I do not. I want to live my life. I only have a certain time to live, and hell, I'm going to enjoy it. Yes, I agree that everyone has to work to achieve a good life for themselves, but at some point, you have to realize, what is this all for? Just think about that for a moment.

    ReplyDelete