Just completed the book titled Consolidations of Philosophy and would like to share a few passages I consider worth our thinking on the topic of treating difficulties, pain or obstacles in life. In the chapter Consolidation of Difficulties, the author uses the philosophy by Friedrich Nietzsche to explain the relation between pleasure and pain in life. A simplest explanation is that pleasure or fulfillment in life is to be 'reached not by avoiding pain, but by recognizing its role as a natural, inevitable step on the way to anything good.' In support of this mentality, the author references an excerpt from Michel de Montaigne's famous work Essais of which explains that 'the art of living lies in finding uses for our adversities':
We must learn to suffer whatever we cannot avoid. Our life is composed, like the harmony of the world, of discords as well as of different tones, sweet and harsh sharp and flat, soft and loud. If a musician liked only some of them, what could he sing? He has got to know how to use all of them and blend them together. So too must we with good and ill, which are of one substance with our life.
In other words, we should embrace ourselves for difficulties and realize that painful experiences or displeasure are all part of our life experiences. According to Nietzsche, pleasure and displeasure are closed linked:
What if pleasure and displeasure were so tied together that whoever wanted to have a much as possible of one must also have as much as possible of the other ... you have the choice: either as little displeasure as possible, painlessness in brief ... or as much displeasure as possible as the price for he growth of an abundance of subtle pleasures and joys that have rarely been relished yet? If you decide for the former and desire to diminish and lower the level of human pain, you also have to diminish and lower the level of their capacity for joy.
I am not suggesting whether the above theory or philosophy is correct, all I am hoping is that for those who are experiencing tough times (and that would definitely apply to myself as well) can apply a view onto this difficult period as Nietzsche's displeasure in life. Instead of trying to avoid or feel sad and embarrassed by it, treat it as a learning opportunity or as the author simply puts it in a single sentence: 'we should not feel embarrassed by our difficulties, only by our failure to grow anything beautiful from them. After all, as the author further explains, 'not everything which makes us feel better is good for us. Not everything which hurts may be bad.'
The above excerpts are from Alain de Botton's The Consolidation of Philosophy; Chapter on the Consolidation of Difficulties. (Penguin Books, 2001)Photo from http://www.alaindebotton.com/
2 comments:
Funny, I was thinking about the same thing on my way to work this morning. It's so hard to be rational when you're on the low... I personally start to question whether the subtle contentment of mediocrity is preferable to the extremity of that amazing high and crashing low. I remember throwing caution to the wind and telling myself that whatever low was to follow, whatever I was feeling was worth it. Now I'm not so sure ;-)
Lola
ooops, sorry for such a late reply, totally missed your comment. I constantly tell myself that even when I am at the low, there can always be an even lower ground. With that taken into consideration, I am still doing alright relatively speaking. I guess the same theory can be applied in the opposite situation whereby it acts as an motivation to achieve even more. Life is indeed an exciting but sometimes contradicting journey ... ;-)
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