Miswanting

"Most people have no idea what will make us happy. So we go after something we think will make us happy and might be temporarily elated when we get it. Ultimately, we end up disappointed because the thing - whether it's say getting into Columbia or snagging a cool job at True - doesn't have the enduring, euphoric emotional payoff that we thought it would. So we set out sights on something else that we think will make us happy, only to repeat the cycle indefinitely until we die. The upside to this is that the same holds true for negative experiences. Something we think will kill us - say a best friend moving a thousand miles away or a boyfriend choosing a college across the country - won't have the long-term devastation on our psyches that we think it will. " - Author: Megan McCafferty from her novel Charmed Thirds