Søren Kierkegaard: Don’t mistake tolerable despair for happiness
To cheat oneself of an “honest life” is the most terrible deception; it is a personal loss for which there is no reparation, either in time or in eternity.
Søren Kierkegaard, a Danish thinker, theologian and writer from the 1800s, was a big deal. He talked a lot about what it means to be a person, have faith, feel anxious or hopeless, and live a real, honest life. Many people think he’s the founder of existentialism, a way of thinking that focuses on personal experiences and choices.
Kierkegaard was brutally honest about life and living it. One of his most striking observations about happiness — or rather, the lack of it is that most people are not truly happy. But they have settled for something less and convinced themselves it’s happiness.
“People settle for a level of despair they can tolerate and call it happiness, Kierkegaard said.
That powerful quote made me question my path to a good life. I still ponder it every day. Kierkegaard makes me reflect on my choices and what they mean for my happiness. We all want to believe we are happy. But what if that happiness is just a mask? What are we really missing? Have I settled for a level of despair?
