Here Is How We Achieve Happiness According To Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell was an English philosopher, mathematician and writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950. At first glance, he didn’t seem like the best person to unlock the secret of happiness. In fact, much of his life revolved around disillusionment. However, and perhaps precisely for this, he managed to take a turning point in his life and learned to be happy.
This controversial thinker was unlucky enough to lose his parents when he was 6 years old. From that moment he lived with his grandparents, who gave him a very strict upbringing. From a young age, he felt that life was unbearable and later, he confided that he had thought of suicide several times.
“The reasonable man thinks only of his ills when it leads him to something practical. All other times are dedicated to other things. ”
-Bertrand Russell-
However, Bertrand Russell found a path to fullness in knowledge. Philosophy and logic allowed him to face his own experience. He managed to uplift his spirit and overcome his suffering. Here are some of his postulates to be happy.
Happiness is achieved by focusing on the outside
For Bertrand Russell, withdrawing into oneself, like a ball of yarn, only leads to sadness and boredom. If we focus on our problems, loopholes, voids, fears etc., we lose the enthusiasm we have in life. This thought coincides with Eastern philosophies and Lacanian psychoanalysis. These two currents assert that the ‘me’ is the source of suffering and disease.
On the other hand, if we fix our attention on the external aspects, life becomes simpler. These outward aspects include a multitude of realities. Knowledge, other people, work, hobbies etc. All of this makes life interesting and full.
Bertrand Russell points out that expansive attitudes bring joy. They are also sources of energy and motivation. Likewise, they bring elements to have more strength when solving one’s own problems.
“When the hour of my death arrives, I will feel that I have not lived in vain. I would have seen the red evening twilight, the morning dew and the snow shining under the rays of the universal sun. I would have smelled the scent of rain after the drought and heard the tumultuous Atlantic pounding against the granite coasts of Cornwall. ”
-Bertrand Russell-
The way to cultivate the expansive attitude
The expansive attitude does not arise spontaneously, but it is necessary to cultivate it. For Bertrand Russell, having fun in daily activities is an attitude that opens the doors to happiness. It’s not about turning your back on introspection or self-reflection, because that would lead to a mundane life. Rather, it is a matter of finding a particular balance and nothing to do with being in a place equidistant from the extremes.
So it is also important to choose the right time and the right way. There is a time to think about yourself and others to focus on the outside. Only think about your own problems when it makes sense. The rest of the time we should focus our attention on the outside.
What Bertrand Russell proposes is to cultivate an orderly mind. If this is achieved, the mind will always be freer and more oriented to the present. When you think about yourself, you have to do it with rationality and maximum concentration. We should also be able to question our own reasoning to determine its validity.
“No one should think they’re perfect, or worry too much about not being perfect.”
-Bertrand Russell-
Two qualities to cultivate
The life of Bertrand Russell demonstrates something that he later attested: happiness is a conquest. It does not give itself from generation to generation, nor does it come from outside. The capacity to be happy is precisely that: a capacity, which must be worked on, cultivated and attained. For this, it is essential to rely on two qualities: effort and resignation.
Effort is the willingness to direct one’s energies towards the work that achieves what is desired. It presupposes tenacity and perseverance. Nothing really precious happens overnight. And be happy, even less. Thus, it is important to cultivate this attribute which allows to unite and direct its efforts towards the success of its objectives.
Another virtue essential to achieving happiness, according to Russell, is resignation. It might be more accurate to speak of acceptance. Life presents us with situations that are inevitable and impossible to resolve. For example, death, incurable disease or permanent losses.
Even though we cannot overthrow them, what we can do is increase our ability to accept them. Do not waste your time trying to solve them, nor allow them to torment us by writing them in our history in a positive way.
Bertrand Russell was one of the most brilliant men of his time. His thought is still in effect. He stopped being an orphan and sad child who felt lost in the world, to become one of the most important intellectuals in the world. The best foundation for his words is his own life and his own successes.
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