What If Unhappiness Contains The Secret To Happiness?
Maybe we should just give up the pursuit of happiness.
When you go for it head-on, you will miss it. As the 19th-century philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote about his existential crisis:
“Those only are happy (I thought) who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness; on the happiness of others, on the improvement of mankind, even on some art or pursuit, followed not as a means, but as itself an ideal end. Aiming thus at something else, they find happiness by the way.” — Utilitarianism
Paradoxically, aiming at feelings of satisfaction drives you away from joy. Happiness is best approached obliquely. If you want to be happy, you can’t target it directly. Instead, focus on something outside of yourself.
Contrast that elusiveness with how in-your-face unhappiness is. Whereas happiness is slippery, misery is inevitable.
In light of that, the value of suffering fruitfully might outrun the use of any Utopian quest for blissful contentment.
Let’s see how that could work.
It didn’t kill me, but did I get stronger?
The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) is well-known for his theory that suffering is indispensable for…
