The concern is that it may not ever be better enough for me to register a sense of approval or contentedness.
Contentedness is based on the interaction of your desires and your outcomes. You are becoming more realistic about your outcomes (this includes ‘expected outcomes’ here because we are predictors and count the future as part of the present). What is the natural next step?
The future is an uncertain, scary place. That means normality is a win. Every day you and the people you love survive without injury is a win. Every day you sit down and improve something instead of letting time slip through your fingers is a win. You understand that normality is more tenuous than you thought it was before; complete the circle and understand that normality is more precious than you thought it was before.
If you feel failure is more likely now that you anticipate the future more clearly, then develop a love of failure, for it is the parent of success.
You seem to be arguing that I should lower my sense of which outcomes are “good enough” so as to match the outcomes that are likely to happen, but I’m not convinced. My sense of what is good enough is deeply entangled with my emotions and my moral intuitions—even if I could artificially lower it, the side effects would probably do more harm than just allowing myself to be scared or upset about the likelihood of not-good-enough outcomes.
Contentedness is based on the interaction of your desires and your outcomes. You are becoming more realistic about your outcomes (this includes ‘expected outcomes’ here because we are predictors and count the future as part of the present). What is the natural next step?
The future is an uncertain, scary place. That means normality is a win. Every day you and the people you love survive without injury is a win. Every day you sit down and improve something instead of letting time slip through your fingers is a win. You understand that normality is more tenuous than you thought it was before; complete the circle and understand that normality is more precious than you thought it was before.
If you feel failure is more likely now that you anticipate the future more clearly, then develop a love of failure, for it is the parent of success.
You seem to be arguing that I should lower my sense of which outcomes are “good enough” so as to match the outcomes that are likely to happen, but I’m not convinced. My sense of what is good enough is deeply entangled with my emotions and my moral intuitions—even if I could artificially lower it, the side effects would probably do more harm than just allowing myself to be scared or upset about the likelihood of not-good-enough outcomes.