Why does a dream purchase stop feeling special so fast?
The raise you celebrated last year feels like your normal salary now.
Hedonic adaptation is the mind's habit of drifting back toward a stable happiness baseline after things change. A new phone or a promotion feels huge at first, then the feeling fades as the new situation becomes your reference point. The drift is strong for everyday gains, but it is not magic: big, lasting losses such as serious disability or long unemployment usually pull happiness down for a long time, with only partial recovery.
You save for months for a new iPhone. The first week it feels amazing, by month two it is just the phone in your pocket, and you are eyeing the next model.
Most ordinary wins fade faster than you expect as you adjust back toward baseline, but you should not assume you fully shrug off every major loss.
If you know the thrill of a one-time upgrade fades fast, you can stop chasing it and put money into repeated small experiences instead, which resist adaptation better.
New normal: whatever you get becomes the new normal, and the thrill cools off.
Learn the idea and practice English at the same time.