There is a doctrine that happiness is the highest good, and hoards of folks will tell you only do something if it makes you happy. Devoting oneself to pleasure as a way of life on its face seems human nature, but it is human nature that makes this lifestyle a slippery slope. Don’t forget that debauchery is a synonym to hedonism, and self-denial is an antonym.
In high school I attended a health class where the teacher claimed that if you drink or smoke, you will likely try pot. If you try pot, uppers in the form of your friend’s ADD meds or cocaine were likely next, and for you more extreme folks… heroine and meth would be the next stop. She also claimed that those who drink too much are inclined to have casual sex. I recall a fellow student saying, “Man, I gotta start drinking so I can sport fuck.” So Tiger Woods is an alcoholic, right?!!!
In life there are lots of lines; between love & hate, bi-polar & sane, social drinker & alcoholic, playboy & sex addict. I’m listening to Grandmaster Flash’s, “White lines”, yeah, those should be avoided too. All these lines cause angst to someone you know.
I was about 12 when I attended my first funeral; a team-member from my speed skating team that had too much cocaine one night, and passed from a heart attack. She was a very nice person that cut hair, and my mom recalled her saying that the skating team was so good because it kept the kids away from drugs. Oh, the irony. I’ve attended several other funerals (even was an alter girl at a couple); most of the deaths less dramatic natural causes, but at least three caused by drugs, alcohol, and/or suicide.
I have touted myself as a hedonist at different points in my life. It seems to me that being happy should be our primary goal, but as I’ve aged I realize that the pursuit of happiness is also the source of much angst. (Spa visits with stellar massages excluded, of course.)
Even if you have no addictive tendencies, and have so much integrity that you will never cross certain lines….the pursuit of pleasure is a slippery slope and as we hear Foreigner singing, “It feels like the first time”, you know you’ll keep wanting something to feel like a first. The thing about each adrenaline rush, new love, first buzz or other way one spanks their monkey to chase the blues away…all only cure boredom for a brief stint, some ups also result in extreme lows. A hedonist, without any other purpose than feeling pleasure, goes chasing for the next up until they reach the edge. Hunter S. Thompson wrote, “The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.”
Hunter also wrote that only the good die young, and I have heard that he ended his life after learning he had cancer. I think Hunter’s picture belongs in the dictionary next to the word Hedonist, and below his could be Tiger Woods.
Life is crazy, and if you find yourself living without purpose, selfishness then self-pity can swallow you.
My mom is always reminding me that God has a purpose for us, well, I'm still waiting for him to whisper in my ear. Our god-like Oprah, tells us that our purpose is to strive to be our authentic self. Thankfully, I can recreate my authentic self, again and again….it can always be a first time. I've been called the responsible black sheep, so it would seem I've kept my hedonistic spirit in check.
I will close with one more quote from Hunter:
"So we shall let the reader answer this question for himself: who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?" 
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