I remember two watershed events in my youth-the High School Graduation Prom and the New Year’s eve celebrations.I think I had a major depression after the first and was definitely in a funk after the latter -every year until I “got it”

“How could this be?” you may reasonably ask.Don’t forget I was raised on the theme song: “Enjoy yourself.It’s later than you think”Really! It’s still the theme song of most Westerners.Isn’t it all about fun and recreation?Isn’t that the purpose of life?To quote a well-known hedonist and materialist”Wrong!”

By my early twenties I was convinced this was the wrong way to go.At first,I would allow myself to be guiltified and doubt my own instincts.Maybe I just didn’t know how to enjoy myself.Maybe I wasn’t”letting go sufficiently.That didn’t quite make sense as my parents, especially my Mom, had highly valued having a good time and was practicing the art well into her eighties!

I can still remember the period leading up to the high-school graduation dance and the aftermath.This was supposed to be “the time of your life”. Dressing up in the finest,going to the best restaurant we knew,riding in a stretch limousine,stayimng up til the next morning.Isn’t that what life is about? And yet….the very next day I was dumps.I kept playing that silly song on my record-player”What’s it all about,Alfie?’It resonated in my soul. I was lost.I don’t know how I managed to study in that state of mind.We were just two months from final exams. Guess I just went into hyper-focus and did very well.Another sign of being out of touch I guess.Hyper-performers usually are.Ever noticed?!

New Year’s Eve was more or less the same story.Except since it repeated itself every year,you could hope that next year would be the real one.It never was!

I guess the moral of the story is obvious.Since I love stating the obvious and then being either ignored or rebuked for doing so,let’s go.FUN is not the purpose of life! All hedonists end up in some kind of depression.Either the fun stops because of changed circumstances or they become tolerant to the perks of pleasure and they crash.Look elsewhere for meaning ,folks .It will do you good- in this life and in the after-life.