Just days ago I wrote this in my blog (excuse my own translation from the Spanish):
Every time I do something exhausting, I expect a reward
Every time I do something considered morally wrong, I think to counter it with positive action
This theory of retribution where something "bad" is countered by something "good" is like a roller coaster powered by the idea of justice, that everything must be balanced but from the extremes. A kind of justice by average, instead of simply living in the very middle in the first place, being equanimous and seeing things more objectively.
So I can infer that discharging our actions of these good and bad attributes implies a lesser desire for retribution, and therefore a life less needy of the emotional extremes to justify itself.
That occurred to me after a hard day at work, while I was walking to my car, and feel a huge urge to have something pleasurable or entertaining. I became aware of that feeling, almost like a demand from me to myself: it was not just the feeling of being tired, product of the work, but the very accumulation of these actions in the recent past that 'me' was demanding to counter, and get even (I guess seeing work as an obligation and not just part of life).
I guess this kind of needs or desires lessen as we become more sensuous and in the present moment.