What do you want (Part 2)

Well, guess the only person who reads this wants more, as he should. And good old Billy even delivered with a great idea of the 'cosmic carrot'. So let's explore that for a bit.
The idea is that in order to be happy, you need to strive for something. You need to be able to look forward to something better, to 'happiness'. And while the idea holds some ground, I'm not convinced it is entirely true. It does explain why constant happiness is actually sorrow, as I explained in part 1. But in my personal experience, senior year of college was the best time in my life.
Why? Not because I was excited to graduate, to make money, to be more independent. Not because I looked forward to the projects, or papers or interviews. The reason I loved that year was because of the people I lived with. I could just sit in my spot all day, and my friends would literally walk in and out of my life. They could talk about nothing, watch tv, play a video game or even just sleep, right next to me. And it was that experience of just being with, observing, and learning from my friends that was great. It was made better by the fact I had very little distractions. I had almost no school work, and no job. I could just be.
So what is it about being around friends that made me so happy? What pleasure did I derive from literally sitting in one spot for an entire day? I honestly don't know. It seems as if my mere existence within the group was enough to sustain my curiosity.
Perhaps I am just the type of person who loves to think. And what better subject to think about than other people? Who is more complicated? What else can be so rational, and yet so insane?
What makes people do what they do, think what they think, be who they are? Those questions are always on my mind, though most of the time it's tucked way back, just waiting to get a taste of information.
But I digress, back to the question at hand. What do you want? It seems I want to observe and learn.

Many people will say, I want money. Or more money. Or all the money. But that in itself doesn't make sense. Money is just a tool to get something else. A car, a house, a ps3, whatever. But no one ever just wants money, they want what money can get them. They want to not worry about their bills, and just have anything they desire, without effort. But isn't everything sweeter with a bit of work behind it?
Other people say they want power. They want to be able to control others, force them to listen or do things for them. But is that satisfying? With ultimate power, you can make anyone do anything you want, but what would you do with that? Many would have sex with beautiful people. And sure that would be nice for a while, but it leads back to the idea that constant pleasure tapers out, gets boring.
Gaining people's alliance, their favor, their desire to be nice to you, is greatly satisfying. But would it be if there was nothing to it? If you were a beloved king, would you not get lonely? Would you not seek a real relationship, with people questioning you, not blindly following? I would.
So I ask again, what do you want? What do you really want?

What do you want?

It's a powerful question. A question that no matter how much you think about it, you may never find the real answer. A question that by simply being asked it, it can change your answer. Not many questions have that power, that ability.

So let's dive right in. The simple answer is to be happy. To be in a state of bliss, with no worries, no cares, and no pain. But what does that really mean? If you are just happy all the time, your dopamine is constantly flowing, will it not dull your senses? Will it not get old? Will you not strive for more, for change, for greater pleasure?
The only way to reach great happiness is to be exposed to sorrow. One is most happy after a struggle, after pain, after they know the depths of how they can feel. So what does that mean? Do you really want pain, just to get more pleasure? Do you want to be in the extreme states, in order to reach that highest level of pleasure?
Or maybe that is too much. Maybe you don't need to feel the most pleasure, maybe just some. Maybe the pain isn't worth it, maybe just a little pain is fine, to gain that little pleasure. To make life interesting, to make life a mystery.
So, do you want, what you already have? A normal life, with ups and downs. With pleasure and pain. With balance?

(If anyone is reading this, and wants a more in depth analysis, I was thinking about some points to put in there, but I kinda liked the short and to the point post. Just comment, and I will make a longer version.)