Happiness: More is Better

I was reading through the "Strange News" section on CNN's website when I came across an article titled: "Fatal diagnosis wrong after life savings spent."

Basically, a British man's doctor diagnosed him with cirrhosis of the liver, and told him he had three months to live. The man, Dave Ismay then proceeded to spend most of his life savings checking off his "bucket list" wishes. As you would guess from the article's title, Ismay later found that his conditon was, in fact, treatable.

When I read this article, my first thought was of the relationship between mortality and self-indulgence; That is to say, it occurred to me that under normal circumstances, people are willing to trade some degree of their life's quality (not buying that new sports car) in order to achieve more quantity of life (funds to continue living off of).

When I made the decision to write about this story, I originally intended to take a somewhat smug, you-reap-what-you-sew stance on the consequences of Ismay's self-indulgent spending spree.

My mind was changed when I realized that my own life, as "normal" as it is can be unpleasant enough without the knowledge that it will very soon be over.

This is not an approval of hedonism, but a recognition that every one of us mortals seeks happiness. I haven't earned the right to judge a person in Ismay's position, nor do I have any way of knowing what I would do if I were told I had three months to live.

It's as simple as that.