Pleasure Tolerance

How high is your pleasure tolerance? Do you seek out enjoyment? Do you savor the moments when pleasure finds you? Are you great at going on adventures or treasuring the moments you can sink into the couch with a good book? What brings pleasure is different for each of us, and feeling the enjoyment of our particular desires can be healthy, healing, rejuvenating, and restorative. 

If you have a low tolerance for pleasure, you might find it easier to return work emails than have lighthearted conversation with your partner, or rush through the sunset walk on the beach because you need to stop for groceries on the way home. 

When you take a vacation, how many days are you into the trip when you able to stop thinking about work, and how much time at the end of the vacation do you feel dread or impatience about the work waiting for you at home? 

It’s not uncommon for adults to skip over fun to get all the work done. For many of us, when we are taking time out for fun we are actually feeling guilty during or after the activity. If we are feeling bad about fun, are we really benefiting from the break? Before you use this an excuse to not take the break, consider instead learning to enjoy the break. Feeling positive emotions is good for your health, which then benefits all parts of your life. 

If you rarely allow yourself pleasure, consider what would help you shift this. Do you need to slow down, learn what you enjoy, or move out of thinking and into feeling? Please know you don’t have to earn the right to feel good, so pause the work for a moment and notice what would bring you pleasure.