The Paradoxes of Desire: 🧵

The Pain Paradox

Desire creates pain in our lives.

But living a life void of desire is equally, if not more, painful.

The Intensity Paradox

The more intensely you desire something, the harder it seems to attain.

If you don’t desire something with enough intensity, you never do what's required to attain it.

The Risk Paradox

We desire comfort, security, and safety.

But nothing we desire can be obtained without risk.

The More Paradox

We are driven by a desire for "more."

When we get it, it's not enough.

The Mutual Exclusion Paradox

We desire two separate things that can't co-exist.

For example ⏤

You desire to be free to do whatever you want without accountability.

But you also desire to be trusted by others.

The Forbidden Fruit Paradox

The more you can’t have something the more you want it.

The Unfulfillable Desire Paradox

We actively desire things that can never happen.

Regret is an unfulfillable desire.

It focuses the energy of desire on changing something in the past.

The Time Paradox

What we want changes over time.

But our deepest desires - to be loved, to be validated - never change.

The Self-Destructive Paradox

We know what's best for us, but don't want it.

We know what's bad for us, and are consumed by it.

Many desires are self-destructive in nature.

The Greener Grass Paradox

Whatever we have is not what we want.

But when we get something different, we quickly start looking for something better.

The Double Standard Paradox

It's okay for us to desire something.

But we get bothered when someone else wants the same thing.

A prime example ⏤

You desperately want to be liked but are annoyed by someone else's attempt to achieve the same end.

The Conflicting Desires Paradox

When two desires are in conflict with one another we tend to abandon them both.

The Buyer's Remorse Paradox

We work hard to fulfill a desire.

Only to feel like it wasn't worth it when we get it.

The Pursuit Paradox

We spend our lives dreaming about things we desire.

But we take no action to pursue them.

Thanks for investing your time in my thread.

If it helped you, I'd be grateful if you'd:

•Retweet the first tweet so others find it too

•Follow me @wdmorrisjr ⏤ it encourages me to keep writing!

One more thing...

h/t @sahilbloom for inspiring me to recognize the paradoxes all around us.

Here's his banger of a thread:
https://t.co/p5T2DDvWev