How to Be Happy According to Nietzsche
And it’s not that hard…
How many gratitude journals have you bought this year? How many articles on happiness have you read this week? As a human race, we have always been interested in happiness. However, in recent years, this interest has turned into an obsession. So much so that happiness has become the only accepted emotion. If you’re not feeling happy or content or satisfied, then you’re a mental patient and you must see a psychiatrist immediately.
Under such pressure, it is no wonder we are constantly looking to feel happy, especially when we browse social media and see everyone else living a life of joy. But I’m going to let you in on a little secret:
Happiness is not achieved by trying.
In fact, the more you advance, the more it retreats. According to Nietzsche, happiness can only come as a by-product. It is not something you can pursue. It is a capricious emotion that will make itself present when it finds you busy pushing yourself to do better and work harder.
Opposed to our current view, Nietzsche did not believe happiness should be the goal of life. In fact, if you were to tell him that your one and only goal in life is to be happy, he would curse you, spit on you, and roast you in a fire. Nietzsche had higher goals for humankind. He believed that the goal of life should be a constant self-transformation, a life filled with aspirations and meaningful goals. For this philosopher, striving toward something, fighting against obstacles to reach a desired goal, was the surest way to get happiness to knock on your door. In other words, happiness comes from EFFORT and SUFFERING.
“Happiness and misfortunes are two siblings and twins.” — Nietzsche
He believed suffering and genuine happiness go hand in hand.
Think of your heroes, the people that you admire. These people have worked hard for their creations. They toiled day and night to achieve their goals. Once their goals were achieved, they reached a content state of mind, a state of mind one might be so bold as to call happy.
But as with every emotion, this joy, or happiness, eventually disappears, leading humans once again to their baseline state of mind. The solution? Find a new project that inspires you and keeps you busy. You will toil again, you will sweat, and many times cry, but once the work is done and once you can admire the results of your efforts, happiness will once again land on your shoulder like an elusive butterfly.
According to Nietzsche, this constant effort, this constant will to overcome obstacles and be better is what eventually leads to that coveted state of mind. Happiness will only come to you when it finds you absorbed in your passions.
Why? Because humans don’t crave happiness. We crave purpose and meaning. Don’t go looking for happiness like a meth addict looks for his next fix. Instead, live your passions and let life do the rest.
