Define yourself by stuff, and you’ll feel good when you have a lot, and you’ll feel bad when you don’t. The cycle is predictable. You assume, If I get a car, I’ll be happy. You get the car, but the car wears out. You look for joy elsewhere. If I get married, I’ll be happy. So you get married, but your spouse cannot deliver. If we can have a baby… If I get the new job… If I can retire… In each case joy comes, then diminishes. By the time you reach old age, you have ridden a roller coaster of hope and disappointment. Life has repeatedly let you down, and you are suspicious that it will let you
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