I wrote in one of my earlier posts, “If you think that money doesn’t buy you happiness, don’t ask someone living under a bridge”.  (I did not make this one up)  The idea is that NOT having enough money to meet your basic needs, give an adequate level of security and give some level of choice in life will definitely lead to unhappiness.  After these three things are met, more does not enhance much. There is a steep curve of diminishing returns.

It just occurred to me that many things in life might follow this same simple rule, not just money.   What made me think of this?

I used to think that winning, or being in the hunt to win races, or at least doing well, was somewhat necessary for my continued enjoyment and interest in the sport.  It was important to me to be very good at work.  The early process of losing these abilities brings a period of readjustment unhappiness, which is surprisingly temporary.  It is amazing, however, that once something is completely taken off the shelf and you move on to accepting and working with the new reality, much is reasonably good, somewhat like before.   The steep curve of diminishing returns also works in reverse!   I have been doing my best to ride this Pollyanna wave for some time now.  So long that I’ve convinced myself that this human ability to adjust might go forever.   The concern that has just hit me is that when I lose my independence, when I will no longer be able to put my thoughts and desires to action, I will be living under the bridge, metaphorically. I’ll keep you posted.