Nietzsche; from pain to success

Nietzsche talked about the elements that human beings naturally needed for a fulfilled life. He also talked about how to achieve this elements and he mentioned that it was impossible to attain them without feeling very miserable some of the time. "What is pleasure and displeasure were so tied together that whoever wanted to have as much as possible of the must also have as possible of the other.. You have the choice; either as little displeasure as possible, painless in brief... Or as much displeasure as possible as the price for the growth of am 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 of joy." 

Nietzsche explained that when you are in your journey to be happy and successful you must have had experienced jealousy. Stubbornness, mistrust, hardness,a variance, violence, among others. "Because no one is able to produce a great work of art without experience, nor achieve a worldly position immediately, nor be a great lover at the first attempt; and in the interval between initial failure and subsequent success, in the gap between who we wish one day to be and who we are at present, must come pain, anxiety, envy and humiliation...."

In another words, according to Nietzsche you have to fail a couple times in order to be successful, and all that pain and suffering is going to be worth it when you are at your highest point." 

Martin Heidegger

Martin Heidegger’s philosophy really drew me in. The video we watched in class on Martin Heidegger really appealed to me because of the certain phrases they used. “Heidegger diagnosed humans suffering from maladies of the soul.” This sentence is beautiful, and it resonated deep within me for many reasons. As a society, we are often quick to diagnose physical problems; a broken leg needs a cast, a sore throat needs a cough drop. However, we rarely identify mental or spiritual problems in our lives. Additionally, there is a stigma against having mental and spiritual problems. If someone is diagnosed with depression, a large amount of people would simply say, “Get over it, do something happy.” If someone is obsessed with luxury and the pursuit of money, most people don’t see a problem with that. But “we’ve forgotten that we’re alive.” We become so focused on material things that we often forget to marvel at the fact that we’re alive. The mystery of life and our interconnectedness is incredibly fascinating, though at times frightening to think of. Heidegger says that humans treat others as means and not ends, to further our own success. He believes that we are all fundamentally united because we’re all alive right now. This unity of being is such an attractive concept to me because in today’s society we are encouraged to think for yourself and to further your career and to do what’s best for you. We often forget to stop and think about the other seven billion people living on this planet during this very moment. “Overcoming egoism” is one of Heidegger’s main isms. He believed that the solution to our problems lay in spending more time at graveyards. I agree, we have to realize that in the great scheme of things, our lives are minuscule flecks in the timeline of the universe. 

Calm

I think being calm is important for one's health. Stress can take a negative toll on someone physically and mentally. If we are never calm we can never set our minds free of all of the clutter of daily life. We need to know how to remove all the little things from our minds and let our minds flow naturally. I think it is especially hard today to get rid of all distractions. Many people may stop feeling calm and    never know how to achieve that feeling again. I think that's why many adults use drugs and alcohol to trick themselves into being calm because they can't achieve it on their own. I think the best ways to be calm is to recognize that everything is meaningless from a far enough distance. However, only to put things in perspective to stop feeling like issues are as big as they feel. I believe that meditation is one of the most healthy things you can do for you mind. We put so much effort into taking care of our bodies, but not nearly as much as we put into the health of our minds. Meditation in any form is a fantastic way to be completely calm. Maybe most people think of meditation as trying sitting crisscross applesauce and trying to be completely still, just waiting for a revelation; but it can really be anything that brings you to that mental state. And if everyone knew the true benefits of it, it would be a more common activity of society. I think if people realized how much being calm and having a healthy mind can benefit us, we could have a much healthier and possibly more peaceful world.

What to say and not to say

While honesty is one of the best characteristics for men, sometimes it is also the one hurts people the most. Sometimes being straight honest is not that good in friendship or relationship. Honesty could not be the reason of hurting others’ feelings. So, I mean when to keep silence is also a skill of talking. I am not saying that being straightforward is not a good thing. But think, if you know the consequence of your words may bring, why don’t you say something after you really think about it. I do know some great person that not very popular in her community. It is not because that they are not nice or not kind. As their friends, I even feel uncomfortable sometimes when we talk to them. 

Learn about how to talk can really help people. It’s not flattering or being obsequious. It’s about how to talk appropriately and let people feel comfortable when hear you talking. It’s the art of talking.

Another thing I want to talk about is the art of not talking. For the most time, we really don’t need to say everything in our mind out. Just like those “I have a crush on your sister” in the video. Being quiet sometimes is a respectful and caring behavior. For instance, if someone is going through a really tough time, maybe go ahead and console him or her by saying something is not the best choice. It could be very awkward. Probably at this time, cheer him/her up by your behavior or your warm caring is the best support for them.

If you love yourself you'll forgive them

     Holding a grudge or hating someone is a burden and a waste of energy. My mom always says that holding a grudge against someone is like drinking poison and expecting the person you hate to die. It’s ironic that she says that actually because my mom is the queen of holding grudges. I think witnessing the pain my mom puts herself through by not forgiving is why feel I must always forgive people. Everyday she puts so energy into making this person feel bad and known that she has a problem with them. I believe that all the energy she uses to try to intimidate this person is what leads to her stress related medical issues. All these vibes and you choose the negative ones? Thats why I believe that forgiveness is the smartest quality to have if you love yourself. 

     Forgiveness does not mean excusing or forgetting what happened. To forgive, you except that they've made a mistake and that you still love them as a friend, colleague, family member, or whatever the case may be. To forget what they have done to you is foolish and destructive. We need to learn from peoples mistakes the same way people need to learn from their mistakes. If someone steals money from and you forgive them that doesn't mean you can now trust them again. If that person were to come over your house it would be idiotic for you to leave money on the table just because you’ve forgiven them. It also shows to that person that they can get away with their misdeed because nothing has changed. When someone does an injustice toward you it is opportunity for you to be enlightened because this person has shown what they are capable of doing. You must be able to forgive this person so that you are not burdened with hatred but at the same be meticulous so that it doesn't happen again. 

Things you can't tell the people you love

Things you cant tell the people you love

In the video we all watched as a class, a couple had many things they thought but did not share with each other. The partners would think, “I just want to be alone”, “Do we have to spend every second together?”, “I want to sleep with your sister” or “You look more and more like your mother everyday”. Thoughts that if this partner were to express could devastate their relationship. Some may think what a jerk, how could they think such things? When in reality most everyone has these awful thoughts and do not share these thoughts because of their fear of hurting their partner. 

Is it wrong for your partner to hide these thoughts from you? Do you wish you knew what your partner was thinking? I believe that in relationships there is always something you wish you could change about your partner or a problem you want to fix. But some of these problems are unfixable or are who that person is and it would be wrong to ask them to change who they are for you. No relationship is perfect but in order to improve your relationships, you must understand that their are two people in that relationship and they both must work just as hard as the other to make the relationship stronger. People sometimes get caught up in their own idea of what a good relationship is. This idea may be altered from past relationships, social media or what someone else is telling them is right. For a relationship to thrive and grow, each person must be committed to the other person and value their happiness. 

Keep Calm

What really strikes me most is when the narrator says, "We exist too much in the mind of others" in the video "Calm" form SchoolIsLife. This is something so true in our world today. It is so common, even with ourselves that we sometimes don't realize it. We try so hard to impress others with who we are that we begin not showing our true selves anymore. Sometimes the adrenaline kicks up and we get so worked up to be something just to please others. But do we ever stop to think about ourselves? For example, our minds are so wrapped over the thought of being liked by others just to fit in whether its school, work, family, etc. We almost become someone totally different, someone we're not. You finally realize, who am I? Is this who people think I am? Sometimes we should stop to think about who we really are and how much that'd bring ourselves contentment. Maybe that'd bring us "calm" into our lives.

Martin Heidegger

       The German philosopher, Martin Heidegger, has many philosophical concepts which I agree with. Heidegger’s philosophy carries the ideas that people should be be in touch with “being” and to be “authentic” and live for ourselves. Another one of his ideas think that people should spend most of their time within graveyards in order to follow this philosophy. Heidegger’s philosophy is one that should be fulfilled by everyone

       Heidegger has the idea that all being is connected and that people forget to be free and live for themselves rather than others. He believes that we are able to overcome this understanding it and rising above it to a much more universal perspective, therefore we will begin to live for our-selves rather than “they-selves.” I agree with this concept very much because throughout my life I have noticed that many people live for other people, and I have also been guilty of doing this when I was younger. I think that people should live for themselves because other people don’t determine your life, YOU do, therefore live for YOURSELF. I also believe that when people are in touch with themselves and live for themselves they will better understand who they are because they’re doing what is satisfying to them rather than other people. 

       Although I agree with many of Heidegger’s philosophical concepts, I don’t agree with the idea that we should spend more time in graveyards. I understand that Heidegger wants us to understand that we need to just be in a quiet place, however I believe that people wouLd be able to accomplish Heidegger’s philosophy without spending much time in graveyards.  

Freedom/ being alive

Martin Heidegger

I would have to say that Martin Heidegger's philosophy is one of my favorite philosophies out of all of the philosophies I have learned this semester. His philosophy is really easy to understand and it's really relatable. I felt like I was able to connect more to his understandings of life than I was able to connect to the other philosophers. Some of my favorite saying that he said was " we've forgotten that we are all alive" and "we've forgotten we are free". I agree with these 100%. We are always blaming someone for not letting us do something or we always in the hustle and bustle of things and we can't realize that we are human and need a break. We control ourselves, no one else does. We control what we can and cannot do. We allow ourselves to be free but we don't realize we are the ones who control our freedoms in the first place. I think this is because we always think that a high authoritative power is the one who controls your freedom. It's amazing how we always think someone else controls us because that's how people have been controlled for years. Someone has always controlled someone else's freedoms. But it's the 21st century. We control ourselves and we control our freedoms. I think that our own freedoms need to be controlled a little bit when we are younger but I don't think when we get older that our parents or authoritative figures need to control us any longer. ( Unless you really need it.)

Calm/Less Stress

Watching the video about being calm, I realized how important it is not to be stressed out all the time. Many of my classmates and teachers have often looked at me oddly when I tell them I'm not stressed about things like SATs or acceptance letters from colleges. 

It's not the easiest thing in the world to be able to relieve stress in our daily lives. There are so many things including love, determination, hard work, and perfection that people my age are striding for. Achieving any of the above requires a lot of pressure from externals like parents, teachers, and peers. Not only do these people push us, but we also stress our own selves out. We become so focused on everything being perfect that we forget why we're doing it in the first place. We lose sight of everything else going on in our lives and we tend to zone out our surroundings. 

When I find myself stressed, I ask myself if it's really worth it. I try to remind myself that in 5, 10, or 20 years from now I won't even remember taking the test I stressed myself out about. After experiencing challenging predicaments causing growth, I look back and wonder why I stressed about something so small. I think the video did a sufficient job at reminding us to take a step back and look at our lives from a macro view rather than focusing on the minuscule things in our life. 

If everyone practice taking a step back from situations, and calming down, or taking deep breaths, we would be able to center ourselves and refocus now hat truly matters in life. 

FORGIVENESS

FORGIVENESS



Forgiveness is a complex emotion because people often assume to forgive means let everything that happened go and still be okay with that person. There is acceptance and forgiveness and then their is welcoming them back into ones life. People think forgiveness is all about oh i forgive you come here and give me a hug but i feel that forgiveness has more steps than one which requires two ways of forgiveness.

Part one would be acceptance, acknowledging the persons feelings and allowing them to apologize for their wrong doings. If something was traumatic for an individual its hard to forgive the person who made it like that. Apart of growing up is forgiving in a way like you did wrong, i forgive you but i want cant have anything to do with you  because for one to forgive it doesnt mean they need to necessarily need to continue to keep contact with the person. Welcoming one back into their life is the second step to forgiveness, its optional because in some situations its impossible to welcome someone back into ones life due to them ruining ones future.

To first accept what happened helps heal ones soul and lift a burden off their chest. To welcome the trader back would (hopefully) make the other person feel a burden lifted as well. In other situations, forgiveness of oneself can be the most difficult because we are so hard on ourselves and so judgmental; we are our own worst critics. Time has a way of healing though; forgiveness takes time, its not something that happens over night. Its a process but worth it by the end because why waste energy on something so negative when there are many joys in life.    

Martin Heidegger

Martin Heidegger’s philosophy is one that I agree throughout every concept.  Though his simple ideas are something that is easier said than done, they are ideas that should be upheld and placed first. His philosophy is twofold: simply live and be and be authentic to yourself.

            Heidegger states we don’t stop and think about our “being.” We get too caught up in our lives and lives of others. Humans are always on the move. I believe it’s true that we don’t remember we were created as human beings. We take life and the ability to breathe for granted.

Heidegger believes that even a simple walk or hike in nature is conducive to the realization to this concept.  Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that if the stars came only one night of a thousand years, humanity would adore and preserve the remembrance of the night. But the stars come out every night and we do not admire their beauty and admonishing smile. This is one of my favorite quotes and I try to remember it; I try to stop for a minute or five wherever I am and take in the existence of the universe.  Like Heidegger said, we are “human beings,” our duty is to separate from the materialistic world and just be.

Martin Heidegger also believed human beings have to stay true to themselves through “authenticity.” He expresses how our mindset is thinking for others or “themselves” and we need to adapt the thinking of “ourselves.” We have to be genuine to ourselves that we come first.

            Heidegger’s philosophy is very sincere and unpretentious. It’s real. Like I said before, it’s easier said than done, but we need to grasp this mindset. Heidegger reminds us that life is short. Don’t waste it on other people, because in the end, it’s just you and your reminiscences of your life.

Heidegger & People in Relationships

Heidegger & People in Relationships

Many of the YouTube videos we watched had a similar theme: don’t let the little things bother you and enjoy life as it is.  One of the clips about “what people think in relationships but don’t say”, discussed the inappropriate thoughts of both sides in the relationship, but how one can never express these thoughts directly to their partner.  After watching this clip, we conversed about whether people would ever be okay if their boyfriend said something of this sort to their face.  Many of the responses were that they wouldn’t particularly mind because they want to know the true colors of their partner, and not have them pretend to be someone they aren’t in order to impress the other.

I thought it was interesting how this point of view was similar to Martin Heidegger’s philosophy.  His ideas stated that people should be “authentic” to themselves and not spend their time trying to impress others.  Following Heidegger’s philosophy, if you are trying to be yourself and do not care about impressing others, then you should be able to express how you are really feeling about your boyfriend or girlfriend at any time. 

I think, however, that this is not always the case, because it is not always that easy to be true to yourself and not care what others think.  No one wants to be told some of the things that people think about each other, so sometimes it is best for both sides, if some opinions are kept to themselves.  I overall agree with Heidegger’s philosophy, but I think it is a difficult one to actually stay true to and not stray off.  It is so easy to get caught up in what other people think about you and the only way to follow his beliefs is to be a complete individual and not let anything both you. 

Nietzsche

 “ Not everything that makes us feel better is good for us. Not everything that hurts is bad.” P243 Nietzsche’s philosophy believes that being suffering and being in pain are parts of our life. Everyone has to go through this process and continues this journey.

   In Nietzsche’s view, concern of the self, suffering a certain stoic indifference and a sense of hierarchy are part of our life. Those things try to stop us, and make our life hard. We have to learn how to accept the suffering and pain. For example, as a high school senior college application gives me a lot pressure, but I know that I have to face the challenge. Although college application just a little thing in our entire life, but for now I know that lots of people do not like to talk about this, they choice to escape. My point is that, as long as we do it, face the problem and everything will be fine.

  Also there are some pains in our life are really tough to move on. Such as lost someone who is really important to you. This is how life looks like, with these pain and suffering we become stronger and finally we will know how to protect ourselves. In other words, suffering makes us grows, connect to Nietzsche’s quote “Not everything which hurts may be bad. “ It’s depends on your how you face to the challenge.