Friedrich Nietzsche, an 18th century German philosopher proposed a very important mind exercise. In exploring his account of the "Myth of the eternal recurrence of the same", we are asked a simple question: What if at the end of our lives we are asked to re-live it over and over again, exactly the same way down to every last detail, how would we respond?
Not many of us would be thrilled I imagine. There are mistakes we would not like to repeat, situations in which we would not like to find ourselves again, and most of us would wish for much better life experiences than we have already had. At the end our lives many of us will look back in regret over things we have done or could have done; things we said or could have said, etc.
My first question is, "How can we live, now, lives that we would be thrilled to re-live if afforded the opportunity? I ask you now to imagine what you would consider a perfect life - what do you see? (Wealth? health? happiness? power?) Now, is this life you have imagined, with all your conditions, attainable? How much control do we have over the factors integral to shaping this "perfect life"?
It is easy to dream; to envision the type of life you want to live. Here is the real kicker, how do you get it? Do you just "go for it"? And what exactly does that mean- to go for it? It is easier said than done. Most people will tell you that you are the only thing that stands between you and your dreams. But that is not always true. A lot of times, there are influences beyond our control that limit what we can and cannot do.
"Go for it." By any means necessary? At what cost? How much of who you are will you have to compromise to achieve your goals? Will you truly be happy and satisfied on achieving said goals? Some of us know what we want but are unsure how to go about getting it. Are we to blame ourselves? Are we just not taking enough control over our lives? Are we just not working hard enough? And perhaps the most important question, are we not exercising to its full extent, our "will to power”? i.e., do we not, according to Nietzsche, exist on our own terms?
Based on our already lived experiences, it would seem that much of our actions, decisions and thoughts are beyond our control. Sometimes we say “I dunno what happened back there, I couldn't help myself." It seems we are not always in control when we make various choices that affect us and even those around us. Why then are we held responsible for our failures or successes in life? Well, it is mostly because many have adopted Nietzsche’s libertarian position on the matter that we are absolutely free to choose in what direction our lives will go.
But are we really? Why then would anyone willfully live in poverty? To what extent can we control the impact our environment (society?) has on us and the decisions we make? It does seem like we do not have much control over that as we are constantly trying to conform, most afraid of standing out. To what extent can we control the impact of social problems like say, racial stereotypes, which place limitations on our lives? Are we really all that free to choose to be happy?
I suppose we can only try. To a large extent, we are really helpless. Every morning when we wake up, the optimists among us say, “This will be a better day!” and the pessimists brace themselves for the worst. Who is right and who is wrong? Are we fated or can we truly, of our own freewill, effect changes to shape our lives the way we want. The more questions I have, the less answers I have, it seems. Just as well, we can never truly reach absolute truths when the questions are grounded in our nature.
Great minds of ages past could not provide answers, free of criticisms, about this life, the nature of man, and how much control is available to man over his own life. Who am I to pretend to understand? I have reached one conclusion though - Everyday I will wake up and "try". Try to understand not life but my options and the factors that I CAN control. I will try to, despite external influences beyond me, shape a life I would be both proud and happy enough to live over and over again.
2 comments:
Girl that is so true. I usually maintain a positive attitude and work really hard but sometimes, some external forces just mess things up for and there's nothing I can do about it. I feel that I'm not always in control of my life. It's a scary feeling.
This is deep. I've never really thought about whether or not, I had total control over my actions. now that i think of it, it seems like for the most part i don't. it's like i do a lot of things and then afterward i go...what the hell just happened back there!
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