What living things do you know that go actively out of their way to experience pain and suffering? Such a behavior would be highly disadvantageous to any species and would run counter to the most basic instincts of all things living. We have pain receptors for a reason, that reason ain't that we just gotta learn to "enjoy the pain". As such I would argue that all living things live their lives on a rather hedonistic basis.
Equally, it could be argued that if "having a calling" makes you "suffer less", because you've found a purpose for your life while a lack of purpose can lead to suffering, then having a calling might just as well be considered a hedonistic lifestyle choice.
The notion that pain and suffering are something that needs to happen to "pull trough" is trough and trough a human invention among the same lines as proper "working virtues".
What about extreme sports? Extreme meaning ultra-marathons here, not jumping off buildings and rocks.
I'd say if you live a too sheltered existence where you avoid all negative feelings, you will have a very bad time in a crisis. So choosing to experience suffering is an insurance of sorts, learning to manage it so that you can function when it's really needed.
There are plenty of masochists out there in the world. Recently there was a pretty clear example of this described in the popular podcast S-Town.
Afaik there are no wild animals exhibiting behavior that's comparable to human masochism if animals with comparable traits existed they most likely went extinct because going out of your way to actively look for "pain and suffering" is a rather big disadvantage in the grand game of survival.
The context of this whole discussion is hedonism, utilitarianism, ethical theory, and philosophy in general. These ideas don't exist (to our knowledge) amongst animals, so I don't find it convincing to use animals to support your argument.
But aren't we humans just that, animals? While the concept of ethical hedonism is of a rather philosophical nature, I still think the basic definition of hedonism translates very well into actual nature.
At least when hedonism is defined as "strive for pleasure and happiness" while evading "pain and suffering" there should be no issue applying this to other animals because we know for a fact that animals, besides humans, are able of these emotions and feelings.
What we don't know is if other animals actively reflect about these things. But that's a matter of motivation and not actual observed behavior, if we go by observed behavior than pretty much all living things are living a "hedonistic lifestyle".
Do you enjoy taking a lazy morning with 30 minutes of quiet reflection each day? Great, but don't assume that means you would be happy maximizing that and living in a monistic life.
The cost benefit on drugs is really complex for example, but so is having a committed relationship, or any other major life choice. That does not mean you should ignore the actual complexity of life, rather you should actually consider the cost benefits of where you live, what you do etc etc.
Actually: yeah, I just basically described contentedness. Though there is definitely a difference between contentedness and complacency.
There are however people who are satisfied and content with their life almost every day.
Related to this: Instead of Hendonism, I am getting into Stoicism; of course adapting it to 'modern day'.
Still sounds like you might be getting a bit mystical with both the old and the new. You might want to play around with extreme spiritual skepticism to get your grounding before launching off with any sort of practice with any expectations. But, you know, hey! YMMV.
That's true. Hedonism is a treadmill (no pun intended) like most other traps. Heroin users are also hedonists...
Happiness in this case probably comprises of a state of mind different of perceptual pleasure.
The various helenistic schools of philosophy were all searching for what constituted virtue. They were quite explicitly after what was good about life and how to organize life around that. The fact you can understand every every human motivation in hedonistic terms is no coincidence; it's the justification for the philosophy, the reason there was a school of hedonism.
"That is why the real Epicurus – in contrast to the crude sybarite invented by his detractors – denounced the rapidly rotting fruits of dissipation and excess. The constant pursuit of intense pleasures will in fact backfire, according to Epicurus, because it leads to the psychological hell of enslavement to unsatisfiable appetites. The would-be hedonist must take care to ensure that the pain of overreaching desire does not ruin his peace of mind and thereby defeat his original aim of securing a balance of pleasure over pain."
Hedonism refers to pursuing pleasures such as money, sex, food, luxury. Unless you want to play fast and loose with terms, an achievement such as becoming a veterinarian or winning a tennis championship or breaking a videogame speedrun record doesn't qualify.
Some words are tricky to fully define outside any ambiguity. Love and Game are good examples.
It makes far more sense to define those things by their external manifestations rather than by some final (and worse, sometimes even subconscious) motive.