[quote=scaredycat]sounds like the ultimate goal is to repress your way to happiness….[/quote]
As much as I’d like to agree with you here – and I love the catchiness of “repress your way to happiness” (that’s very good) – I think it’s more of a trade-off issue, as opposed to a repression issue. (Although one could also argue that’s a distinction without much of a difference. But I digress.)
For example, most married men are probably happy in their marriages the majority of the time. Most also want to get some strange occasionally. But for many in this group, the repercussions of getting caught would be too damaging. So, the trade-off is: I will not cheat and risk getting caught – thus making me miserable occasionally – in exchange for keeping my marriage in tact, in which I’m happy the majority of the time.
Trading occasional misery for a state of frequent contentment is perfectly logical. Which is one more reason – aside from financial and other reasons – that some men stay married.
And, obviously, the spectrum of time spent in misery vs. contentment is going to vary from person to person.
