02/02/2025
Have you noticed.....
We live in a world that constantly nudges us toward pleasure—notifications, sugar, sex, entertainment, validation. This pursuit of feeling satisfied is hard wired into our brains. Yet it is also hard wired that the feeling doesn’t hang around, it’s not sustainable. Each hit of dopamine feels good, but it comes with a cost.
The brain balances pleasure with pain, like a scale. The more we chase highs, the more we experience lows.
Modern neuroscience, particularly the work of Dr. Anna Lembke, reveals that when we overstimulate dopamine, our brain counteracts with an equal measure discomfort—boredom, restlessness, even anxiety. This is why binge-watching, scrolling, or indulging in comfort food often leaves us feeling worse afterward.
The pursuit of more can make us feel less.
What if we stopped chasing?
Instead of running toward easy pleasure or running away from discomfort, mindfulness invites us to pause. To notice. To sit with the craving, the boredom, or the urge and ask:
What do I truly need in this moment?
Not want. Need.
The answer might not be another dopamine hit. It might be rest. Movement. Connection. A deep breath. Or simply to feel an emotion rather than distract from it.
When we accept discomfort without reacting, we reset the scale, we rebalance.
We regain control, allowing pleasure to be nourishing rather than numbing. We learn that temporary pain—like exercise, deep work, or silence—often leads to deeper satisfaction.
So today, try this:
• The next time you feel the impulse to check your phone, eat out of boredom, or escape discomfort—pause.
• Name the feeling. Sit with it for just 60 seconds.
• Ask yourself: What do I truly need right now?
True freedom isn’t found in chasing more and more dopamine—it’s in mastering our response to it.
What’s one habit you’d like to reset? Hit reply and let me know!
Yours Mindfully,
Paul
