How to Overcome the Feelings of Meaninglessness From Taking Over Our Lives
Friedrich Nietzsche can have the answer to this important question.
Why am I living life like this? What is the meaning behind all this? Will this matter when I am gone?
Being caught up in our daily lives does not give us the time to sit down and question our lives. While we are young, these questions might seem unworthy of asking. But one day, as we age, these questions start hitting our minds, and we begin to ponder.
In those moments, as we start to inquire deeply, comes a sense of despair, leading us to conclude the absurdness of our existence. Nothing seems logical to our minds. In trying to find a universal truth, we see the universe as devoid of any meaning.
Our world shatters, and we start to develop a negative attitude(pessimism) toward our lives, and soon, the pessimism leads us into the dark paths of nihilism. If not dealt with at the right moment, nihilism can cause an individual to give up on life.
Fortunately, Friedrich Nietzsche, the German philosopher, may have some answers to the problem of nihilism and how to overcome this dreadful state.
Nietzche’s views on how we develop nihilism:
Nietzche believed humans have an innate tendency to believe this world is full of suffering and inhospitable. There is a deep desire for a utopian world where all miseries will end, and there will only be everlasting happiness.
In previous times this hope of everlasting happiness was fulfilled by prophecies of an eternal world by religions like Christianity to convince humans their suffering had some meaning.
But according to Nietzche, as science developed and we started questioning everything, the belief in religions began decreasing. There needed to be more than the eternal world theory to convince humans who had developed a rational mindset.
Nietzche was aware this shift in mindset would be dangerous because religion( or any belief system ) used to give people some purpose in their lives. Without faith, human beings have nothing to look forward to, making them doubt the relevance of their actions.
Considering their present reality as torturous and with no hopes of a better future ahead, the ultimate conclusion for most people is to deem life as unworthy of living. They enter into nihilism, where death is the only fitting end to their tortures.
According to Nietzche, this is an intermediary state and can be overcome to reach a better state of being.
We will take the story of a man and how he enters nihilism and overcomes it using Nietzche’s philosophy.
What I relate is the history of the next two centuries. I describe what is coming, what can no longer come differently: the advent of nihilism. . . For some time now, our whole European culture has been moving as toward a catastrophe, with a tortured tension that is a growing from decade to decade: relentlessly, violently, headlong, like a river that wants to reach the end, that no longer reflects, that is afraid to reflect.
— Friedrich Nietzsche
The man with the belief system of a better future ahead:
A student is working toward his future. He has dreams of securing a high-paying job and a relationship with an intelligent woman.
He believes once he has a job and a woman in his life, all his miseries will disappear, and the hard work he is putting in now will have some purpose behind it. This is a belief system society has put into his mind.
The student works hard to complete his graduation. He secures a high-paying job, and in some years, he gets the girl of his dreams whom he is about to marry.
Everything is going on pretty smoothly in his life, but he questions whether everything he has achieved has given him the ultimate satisfaction he desired.
He still does not derive intrinsic joy from his work and relationship. But in his mind, he has given himself false hope- this reality he lives in is the only happy reality; everything else is pathetic.
His belief system shatters, and he has to face the harsh reality in front of him:
But luck would have its way now. The man loses his job due to the heavy recession in the market.
He has no job and is about to marry in a few months. But because of his financial condition, his girlfriend leaves him as she does not see her future with an unemployed man.
He is now back to the reality he hates the most. He has lost his utopia and awaits a world where only darkness exists.
As his belief system breaks, pessimism follows, and depression sets in. He has no answer to help him escape his current situation.
How will he deal with it now?
What does nihilism mean? That the highest values devaluate themselves. The aim is lacking; “why?” finds no answer.
— Friedrich Nietzsche
The man can now take three paths, according to Nietzche:
Passive nihilism- In this type of nihilism, the person thinks because his previous belief system shattered; hence every way he will follow will ultimately have no meaning. Thus he stops living his life because, according to him, whatever he does will be worthless, and he must linger onto death.
Active nihilism- This type of nihilism is somewhat positive only if used in the correct direction. In this case, a man revolts against his despair, but in doing so, he can again form a new reality where he dreams of a painless world. This may lead him to destructive paths like joining cults and following rigid ideologies.
Working around an organizing idea and becoming who you are- The man accepts suffering as an inevitable part of life. He sees the essence of suffering and realizes it is essential for personal growth and development. He drops the idea of a happy future and forms an organizing idea. He directs all his thoughts and actions toward this organizing idea. Only by taking responsibility for himself can he defeat nihilism.
Nihilism. It is ambiguous: A. Nihilism as a sign of increased power of the spirit: as active nihilism. B. Nihilism as decline and recession of the power of the spirit: as passive nihilism.
— Friedrich Nietzsche
The man tries both passive and active nihilism but realizes the worthlessness of those paths and finally goes on the path of becoming himself:
After developing a pessimistic attitude, the man becomes a passive nihilist who does nothing because all paths are useless.
Adjusted to this pattern of life, he lets his days pass without doing anything significant.
But this does not go on for long, and he revolts against his situation. He believes he can change his condition, but due to his rebellion, keeps falling prey to dangerous ideologies where he blames certain groups for his trouble and takes no responsibility for his life.
In the end, he sees the worthlessness of his ways and finally realizes the most important thing- only by enduring suffering and taking responsibility for his life can he become a better individual.
He goes within himself and seeks to find his calling in life. He aims to find an organizing idea where he can direct all his mental energies.
He has loved writing since childhood and began writing to see if this could be his organizing idea. He is ready for all the uncertainties and anxieties coming his way.
He aims to become a better writer daily, and his purpose in life is to express himself and connect with others through his writings. He wants to help others through his writings.
The only happiness he gets is in the moment when he writes, and he drops all illusion of what a successful future is.
In a few years, he becomes a skilled writer and fulfills his potential. He has become what nature intended him to be.
The organizing “idea” that is destined to rule keeps growing deep down — it begins to command; slowly it leads us back from side roads and wrong roads; it prepares single qualities and fitnesses that will one day prove to be indispensable as means toward a whole — one by one, it trains all subservient capacities before giving any hint of the dominant task, “goal,” “aim,” or “meaning.
— Friedrich Nietzsche
Takeaways:
There will be times in your life when you question everything and ask the essence of your doings.
Such times can lead you to develop a pessimistic attitude toward life and ultimately head toward nihilistic tendencies.
Remember that there is nothing wrong with going through a nihilistic phase, but the important point is to overcome it and not get stuck in it.
To overcome it, drop the idea of a happy life in the future and accept your reality as it is.
Embrace suffering and see its importance in your progress. Only pain will make you a better person. By considering suffering a bad aspect of your life, you are calling on more suffering.
Take responsibility for your life by concentrating all your energies around an organizing idea. Learn to become a better person each day by working on your organized idea. Become what you are indeed capable of becoming.
We, however, want to become those we are — human beings who are new, unique, incomparable, who give themselves laws, who create themselves.
— Friedrich Nietzsche
