"Dan, you are suffering; you do not fundamentally enjoy your life.  Your entertainments, your playful affairs, and even your gymnastics are temporary ways to distract you from your underlying sense of fear."

     "Wait a minute, Soc."  I was irritated.  "Are you saying that gymnastics and sex and movies are bad?"

     "Of course not.  But for you they're addictions, not enjoyments.  You use them to distract you from your chaotic inner life - the parade of regrets,…