It does apply to consumerism and you're right when you say we should let too much of this in to our lives.
Was more thinking along the lines of the satisfaction of say having a "perfect" child or your dream job (whatever that may mean to you) vs one that has a grave illness or a job that truly blows. You're going to suffer much more from the latter then find joy from the former.
Or for example your salary. If you suddenly get double, the joy / satisfaction from that will wane fairly quickly even if a few weeks before you imagined it would solve all kind of problems.
Or the toughest one imho: being a relationship with your dream girl / boy vs that relationship ending. You're probably not going to wake up every day thinking you're super happy but if you really get your heart broken you'll suffer for months on end.
Was more thinking along the lines of the satisfaction of say having a "perfect" child or your dream job (whatever that may mean to you) vs one that has a grave illness or a job that truly blows. You're going to suffer much more from the latter then find joy from the former.
Or for example your salary. If you suddenly get double, the joy / satisfaction from that will wane fairly quickly even if a few weeks before you imagined it would solve all kind of problems.
Or the toughest one imho: being a relationship with your dream girl / boy vs that relationship ending. You're probably not going to wake up every day thinking you're super happy but if you really get your heart broken you'll suffer for months on end.