Tracy Kornet's Blog

I'm an addict. I binge on fun. Broadway shows & girlfriend trips. Concerts & coffee. Happy hours & Home Goods. Once I get a taste of joy, I only want more. But lately, these pleasures have lost their allure. And I believe I now understand why. I often binge on books, too. So in the interest of full disclosure, this latest revelation came via a new-found philosophical nugget, Fulton Sheen's 78-page paperback called " Finding True Happiness. " A lady passed it out at Christmas mass at the Cathedral here in Nashville. Sheen asserts that pleasure is best enjoyed when it comes to us as a "treat," in contrast to experiences that are less pleasurable. This makes a whole lot of sense to me. Sheen writes, "Self-discipline brings back to us the excitement of our childhood, when our pleasures were rationed--when we got our dessert at the end of the meal and never at the start." (Unless you take the kids to the Cheesecake Factory. I...