Animals-
"They suffer and die, but they do not seem to make a 'problem' of it...instinct rather than anxiety seems to govern their few preparations for the future."
Humans (The Human Problem) lies in the fact that we have to experience pleasure WITH pain. Without pain, there is no appreciation for pleasure. But it is human nature to avoid pain and by doing so we create anxiety over things that may never come to light. And then ultimately avoid living in the present, and living in general, because we're too preoccupied with fixing the past or controlling the future.
"If we are to have intense pleasures, we must also be liable to intense pains."
One can avoid pain, but at the expense of limiting his pleasure. This is something I've suffered from for a long time. Possibly from my bad relationship with my father- it was easier to shut off my feelings rather than deal with the pain.
"The hard-bitten kind of person is always, as it were, a partial suicide; some of himself is already dead."
And I've felt like this for a long time. Not depressed, but like I wasn't really living.
"If, then, we are to be fully human and fully alive and aware, it seems that we must be willing to suffer for our pleasures."
Well, duh.
"...the simple experiencing of alternating pain and pleasure is by no means the heart of the human problem...the real problem does not come from any momentary sensitivity to pain, but from our marvelous powers of memory and foresight- in short from our conciousness of time. "
Here's where I have created my problem...
"The power of memories and expectations is such that for most human beings the past and the future are not AS real, but MORE real than the present. The present cannot be lived happily unless the past has been 'cleared up' and the future is bright with promise."
By constantly trying to fix the past and set myself up for "success" in the future, I was losing grip of the present. I was ruining relationships one after the other. If it wasn't meant to be then I could have just said my peace and broke up- but my thoughts and habits wouldn't let that happen. I had to fix that relationship but I also needed an escape plan. Well, it doesn't work that way. I can tell you from experience.
Some other takeaways from this chapter-
"So many [businessmen] understand much more about making and saving money than about using and enjoying it. They fail to live because they are always preparing to live. INSTEAD OF EARNING A LIVING THEY ARE MOSTLY EARNING AN EARNING."
"...the human problem: there is a price we to be paid for every increase in conciousness. We cannot be more sensitive to pleasure without being more sensitive to pain."
Open your heart and love greatly while suffering at times, or die slowly without feeling.