The Pleasure/Pain Inversion of Self-Improvement

One undergoes the following inversion of pleasure and pain in the process of self-change:

(1) At first, one finds pleasure in the bad and is pained by the good. 

(2) If one forces himself through both the pain of avoiding bad pleasures and the pain of partaking in the good for long enough, then, 

eventually,

(3) One finds pleasure in the good and is pained by the bad. 

Often a disciplined life is perceived from the outside as ever-painful. The good person, it is thought, faces both the pain of lacking bad pleasures – i.e., he has “no fun” – and the pain of having to do good  – “how miserable it must be to be sober all the time, to wake up early and exercise with intensity, to eat salads, to practice honesty,” and so on.

But that is wrong. The goal is not just to do the good and to avoid the bad, but to love the good, to find joy in it. Fortunately, the pleasures of the good are not only there, they are also deeper, longer-lasting, and worthy of pride.