April 10, 2025 • 24 mins
In this podcast, we bring you 4 ways to manage your anxiety from the wisdom of Soren Kierkegaard. Soren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher, theologist, writer, and culture critic born in the year 1813 and is widely regarded as the father of Existentialism.
So here are 4 ways to manage your anxiety from the wisdom of Soren Kierkegaard -
01. Use Your Anxiety
02. Acknowledge Regret
03. Embrace Absurdity
04. Realize That You Will Die
I hope you enjoyed listening to this podcast and hope you find these insights form Soren Kierkegaard will help you in managing your anxiety.
Soren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher, theologist, writer, and culture critic born in the year 1813. He has published a fair amount of works in his lifetime, most written under various pseudonyms. These pseudonyms expressed all kinds of different, sometimes even contradicting, views that have caused historians trying to find Kierkegaard’s true beliefs to scratch their heads. Some of his pseudonyms were: Johannes Climacus, Anti-Climacus, Constantin Constantius, and ‘The Individual.’ Some of his most notable works are: ‘Either/or’, ‘Fear and Trembling’, ‘Sickness unto Death’, and ‘The Concept of Anxiety’. Kierkegaard is widely regarded as the father of Existentialism, a theory asserting that human beings possess no innate essence or fixed purpose and are free to determine their identity. Kierkegaard wrote extensively on this subject, although never using the term ‘existentialism’ himself.
So here are 4 ways to manage your anxiety from the wisdom of Soren Kierkegaard -
01. Use Your Anxiety
02. Acknowledge Regret
03. Embrace Absurdity
04. Realize That You Will Die
I hope you enjoyed listening to this podcast and hope you find these insights form Soren Kierkegaard will help you in managing your anxiety.
Soren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher, theologist, writer, and culture critic born in the year 1813. He has published a fair amount of works in his lifetime, most written under various pseudonyms. These pseudonyms expressed all kinds of different, sometimes even contradicting, views that have caused historians trying to find Kierkegaard’s true beliefs to scratch their heads. Some of his pseudonyms were: Johannes Climacus, Anti-Climacus, Constantin Constantius, and ‘The Individual.’ Some of his most notable works are: ‘Either/or’, ‘Fear and Trembling’, ‘Sickness unto Death’, and ‘The Concept of Anxiety’. Kierkegaard is widely regarded as the father of Existentialism, a theory asserting that human beings possess no innate essence or fixed purpose and are free to determine their identity. Kierkegaard wrote extensively on this subject, although never using the term ‘existentialism’ himself.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Soren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher,theologist, writer, and culture critic born
in the year 1813.
He has published a fair amount of works inhis lifetime, most written under various pseudonyms.
These pseudonyms expressed all kinds of different,sometimes even contradicting, views that have
(00:22):
caused historians trying to find Kierkegaard’strue beliefs to scratch their heads.
Some of his pseudonyms were (00:28):
Johannes Climacus, Anti-Climacus, Constantin Constantius, and
‘The Individual.’
Some of his most notable works are (00:38):
‘Either/or’, ‘Fear and Trembling’, ‘Sickness unto
Death’, and ‘The Concept of Anxiety’.
Kierkegaard is widely regarded as the fatherof Existentialism, a theory asserting that
human beings possess no innate essence orfixed purpose and are free to determine their
(01:01):
identity.
Kierkegaard wrote extensively on this subject,although never using the term ‘existentialism’
himself.
He was raised by a very religious father,something that influenced Kierkegaard greatly.
Throughout his life, Kierkegaard was a verypassionate and devout believer of God, but
also a firm critic of the church as an institution.
(01:24):
Aside from religion, freedom, and society,Kierkegaard was very interested in the human
feelings of dread, fear, and anxiety.
His book, "The Concept of Anxiety" , exploreshis belief that anxiety is an inherent aspect
of being human.
Despite acknowledging that anxiety is a universalexperience, Kierkegaard's approach is not
(01:47):
entirely negative.
Rather, he suggests that anxiety may offera way for humanity to be saved rather than
doomed.
He believed that embracing anxiety could betransformative, leading to personal growth
and self-awareness.
And if you want to be able to transform youranxiety into something useful, too, in this
(02:08):
video, we bring you four tips from Kierkegaardthat will help you with managing the feeling
of anxiety.
1.
Use Your AnxietyKierkegaard says “Whoever has learned to
be anxious in the right way has learned theultimate.”
When faced with the knowledge that one hasthe freedom to make any decision and form
(02:32):
any opinion, an individual often experiencesa terrible case of anxiety or dread.
Making your own decisions means being responsiblefor them, and being responsible for them means
having to take responsibility for their consequences.
And what feels worse than realizing ‘Thiswas my fault’ when something does not turn
(02:54):
out well?
In his book, ‘The Concept Of Anxiety,’Kierkegaard uses the story of Adam & Eve,
specifically Adam in the garden as the veryfirst instance of anxiety.
God told him not to eat the apple from thetree.
This implied a choice (03:10):
Adam could choose to obey God or choose not to.
And as such, he felt anxiety.
When Adam ate the apple, the concepts of ‘good’and ‘evil’ came into the world.
But before he had taken a bite out of it,those concepts did not exist yet.
Thus, Kierkegaard concludes, ‘anxiety precedessin.’
(03:35):
In other words, in itself, anxiety is neithergood nor bad.
Anxiety, as we know it, is often a synonymfor nervousness, fear, or uncertainty.
However, for Kierkegaard, it was somethingsignificant in itself - an important term
that could not just be ‘explained away.’
(03:55):
As he described it, anxiety is ‘the dizzinessof freedom.’
This anxiety has multiple aspects to it.
On the one hand, it feels negative as it representsthe realization that you will have to make
an infinite amount of difficult choices likeWill you keep working for a boss, start your
own business, go back to school?
(04:17):
Will you marry and have kids?
Will you move countries?
Will you leave the love of your life for yourdream career?
On the other hand, it feels positive (04:25):
it is exciting and freeing to know that you’re
capable of choosing everything all by yourself.
Anxiety is, then, inevitable to anyone whois free.
So the key to feeling better is not to getrid of your anxiety, like most think, but
(04:47):
to focus on its positive sides and use it.
We are often entirely encompassed by the negativeside of our anxiety.
Aside from being dizzying, it can also bedescribed as paralyzing.
The sensation of anxiety when making decisionsand being responsible for them can be so terrifying
(05:08):
that we may freeze and not do anything atall.
But this feeling may never, ever pass - andthus, we have to move on from it and not let
it paralyze us, no matter how hard that mightseem.
Change is scary, so we stay stuck in a dead-endjob instead of risking a new job.
(05:29):
We might feel too insecure to try out newactivities, meet new people, sell our house,
buy a car, and so on.
But you will never, ever grow if you don’tdo any of those things.
And if you wait until you don’t feel theanxiety anymore, you’re going to have to
wait forever.
In order to focus on the positive, excitingaspects of anxiety, one should pursue what
(05:55):
Kierkegaard called ‘passion.’
These passions are your personal goal or mission- an end result you’re aiming for, formed
on the basis of what you rationally find important,but also what you emotionally feel strong
about and subjectively care about.
It is crucial to find such passions and gofor it with everything you have.
(06:17):
The anxiety will definitely be there.
What if this is a wrong thing to pursue?
What if I fail?
What if I don’t want it as much as I thinkI do?
But the trick is to acknowledge your anxietywithout acting on it.
When the anxiety comes, try to see it positively: think about how excited you are or how proud (06:31):
undefined
of yourself you will be after having takena risk.
See it as a reminder of the freedom you have.
See it as motivation.
Do something daring not despite being scared,but because you’re scared!
(06:53):
Anxiety brings about strong emotions, andit can be just as helpful and beautiful to
experience them as it is troublesome to repressthem.
Imagine you’re nervous for a job interview.
If you push these feelings down, they willfester and you might end up panicking when
the moment comes.
If, instead, you write down your feelingsand let them out, you will feel lighter.
(07:16):
And, you will feel brave - because you acknowledgeyour fear, you can also overcome it.
Lastly, anxiety can also act as an invitationto be rational.
If your anxiety anticipates everything thatcould go wrong, then you can make sure to
prepare for each scenario.
(07:36):
Similarly, your anxiety may force you to sitdown and think about whether you really want
something before you move forward.
In this way, anxiety can make you a more carefuland prepared person.
In short, Kierkegaard considers anxiety inherentto being human.
We’re free beings, and that’s a prettybig responsibility!
(07:59):
No wonder we’re anxious.
Anxiety is a reminder that we are free andit can help us in making decisions.
We need to learn to face our anxiety and useit to be more grateful, considerate and motivated.
2.
Acknowledge RegretTo quote Kierkegaard “I see it all perfectly;
(08:24):
there are two possible situations — onecan either do this or that.
My honest opinion and my friendly advice isthis: do it or do not do it — you will regret
both.”
Very closely related to this dizzying freedomis another one of the greatest things that
brings us anxiety (08:45):
the constant wondering whether we will regret the things we do.
How could we ever calmly act if we do notknow the consequences?
Kierkegaard acknowledges our neverending tendencyto regret everything and anything we do.
Every decision we make could have been somethingelse.
(09:07):
If you pursue one career, you might regretnot pursuing another.
If you spend the afternoon playing video games,you might regret not playing an instrument
that day.
‘The grass is greener’-attitude is simplyvery prevalent and present in our way of thinking,
and for most people it’s unavoidable.
This constant regret seems like a way to bemiserable, but Kierkegaard argues that regret
(09:31):
does not have to be as miserable as it seems.
Regret is a medium that can help you realizewhat needs to change in life, but it is not
something that should be dwelled on.
One of the ways to embrace regret insteadof letting it incapacitate you is to consider
all the possibilities you still have.
Kierkegaard said, ‘Pleasure disappoints,not possibility.’
(09:56):
Pleasure disappoints because we regularlymake decisions with the hope that it will
bring us happiness.
However, the truth is, there are almost nodecisions one can make that are that powerful
- and as a consequence, any choice we makeinevitably results in disappointment.
But there is always a possibility.
(10:16):
Whatever state you are in life, you alwayshave multiple ways that you can go moving
forward.
The endlessness of possibility in your lifeis something to cherish and feel excited and
happy about.
You can always make a different choice andyou can always change.
But acknowledging all the possibilities youhave is not the best medicine for regret.
(10:39):
Aside from that, Kierkegaard sees the problemof regret mostly as a problem for pleasure-seekers.
All personal choices that you make are thingsyou might regret, but if you make a choice
in favor of the greater good, or a cause thatyou believe in, you often find that that regret
is further away.
Thus, if you find yourself regretting everysingle thing about your life, the best way
(11:03):
to combat this is to try and find a causethat means something to you and work towards
it.
If you make decisions that add towards a meaningfullife, you will be less and less plagued by
regret.
Someone who lives in order to be happy willalways regret everything that causes the slightest
feeling of unhappiness in their life.
(11:25):
But someone who lives in order to contributeto a cause, such as ending hunger in a certain
area, will probably never regret any decisionthey made that has benefited that cause.
So, when you feel immense regret - as allhumans do at some point - try to find joy
in the fact that you have endless possibilities.
(11:46):
But, most of all, ask yourself whether yourlife has meaning and if not, what you can
do to give it one - for meaning is the trueantidote to regret.
And the less you are afraid to regret, theless anxious you will be.
3.
(12:06):
Embrace AbsurdityKierkegaard considers that “The only intelligent
tactical response to life’s horror is todefiantly laugh at it.”
According to Kierkegaard there is actuallyno meaning to the world.
This viewpoint is called absurdism.
(12:26):
Kierkegaard defines "absurd" as ‘havingno rational explanation.’
The world is chaotic, irrational - absurd.
So how are we ever expected to be able tolive a meaningful life in such a world?
We often try to organize our lives in a rationalway.
We find meaning in our lives by trying tomake rational decisions.
(12:50):
However Kierkegaard points out that this methodis doomed to fail because the world is too
absurd.
Our lives cannot follow a set of rules ora clear structure.
This constant failing and confrontation withabsurdity give many people an endless amount
of anxiety.
It is nerve-wracking to be desperate for yourlife to go a certain way, or to want to view
(13:14):
the world in a certain way and find yourselfface to face with contradictions and oppositions.
Consider love for example.
There is no rational way to fall in love,no matter how hard we might try.
If one’s plan is to fall in love, one cannever do so rationally or by following a step-by-step
(13:35):
guide.
Of course, one could marry out of convenience,or date around to fulfill one’s needs - but
is that really what we would consider truelove?
In order to love truly, we must do so irrationallyand absurdly.
Furthermore, imagine a man who falls for awoman.
He might be an ambitious worker, someone whofeels like his intellect matches greatly with
(14:00):
the woman he is in love with, and the twoof them could achieve a lot together.
Then, imagine he finds out the woman is terriblysick.
A rational decision would be to leave her,to pursue his own goals and dreams in the
most efficient way possible.
The absurd decision would be to stay withher and trust that it will be worth it despite
(14:22):
all the struggles.
It is a decision many would be anxious tomake.
But we can all see that a true lover wouldchoose the latter, and we would not consider
their lives meaningless no matter how absurdand chaotic they might be.
This trust in one’s decisions despite thembeing absurd is a core pillar of Kierkegaard’s
(14:42):
advice for living in an absurd world.
Or, as he calls it, taking a leap of faith.
This leap of faith is the antidote to despairin the face of absurdism.
When the world does not make sense and wecannot act according to reason or rationality,
we just have to believe that all is alrightanyway.
(15:02):
Kierkegaard did so through his belief in God;an ultimate, all-powerful, and inherently
Good being that would guide his existencethrough this confusing and disorienting world.
One of the examples Kierkegaard uses to justifyhis dependence on Godly faith, is the story
of Abraham and Isaac.
(15:24):
God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his sonIsaac in the name of faith - an action so
very unethical, so unreasonable, that it couldonly be called absurd.
According to the story however, Abraham wenton to do it nonetheless, and just before the
actual sacrifice, an angel stopped him.
(15:46):
Abraham had passed God’s test by actiondespite the absurdity of the situation and
he was rewarded by not having to sacrificehis son, allowing them both to live happily
ever after.
As Kierkegaard said, ‘To have faith is preciselyto lose one's mind so as to win God.’
(16:06):
You ‘lose your mind’ in the sense thatyou refuse to acknowledge the world for its
chaos, arbitrariness, and absurdity, and youneed faith instead.
It seems like the most irrational of actions,but Kierkegaard considers it the most rational
thing to do.
Not everything has to make sense.
(16:26):
Sometimes, you have to make choices in virtueof absurdity: You choose things that do not
make sense or do not necessarily align becausethe decision feels right.
An ambitious man who possibly gives up hisambitions by staying with an ill lover is
a man who made a decision having no idea whereit would lead him - but he did so as a leap
(16:48):
of faith.
Making decisions that have no clear advantagesis very anxiety-inducing, but avoiding all
such decisions can only ever lead to disappointmentand more anxiety..
Thus, as Kierkegaard says, you have to realizethe world is absurd and make decisions in
the name of faith.
(17:09):
Only by embracing absurdity instead of avoidingit, will you feel less anxious and more confident.
4.
Realize That You Will DieIn our final quote from Kierkegaard for this
video, he says “Once you are born in thisworld you’re old enough to die.”
(17:35):
According to Kierkegaard, most of the worldlives in death-denial.
We vaguely know that we will die someday,but live as if we’re immortal.
We know we all age, but we still use all kindsof creams, cosmetics or even surgeries to
try to look younger, attempting to spreadthe myth that we have all the time in the
(17:56):
world and that we should never change.
And despite how carefree this might seem,this is actually one of the worst ways to
exacerbate your feelings of anxiety.
There are two ways in which people generallyavoid death.
The first is that they ‘get lost’ in thepleasures of the world, seeking thrill after
(18:17):
thrill.
All of these thrills, such as food, drinks,excitement and pleasure, are temporary.
These people are so concerned with temporarypleasures that they are blind to the big picture
of life, including the end of it.
These people live in the moment not becausethey’re relaxed and free of worry, but because
(18:38):
they know they would be paralyzed by worryif they looked just a little beyond the moment.
This way of living creates a heavy dependenceon such thrills, making one incapable and
heavily anxious without them.
The second way to avoid being aware of deathis clinging to some false sense of immortality.
(19:00):
This second form of denial is present in almosteverybody in society.
We do not live like we might die tomorrow;instead, we live like the end of our lives
is incomprehensibly far ahead of us, likewe have all the time in the world.
We let ourselves be caught up in minor worriesor trivial concerns like what strangers think
(19:21):
of you, how you should deal with your partnerforgetting the dishes that one time, and so
on.
We do not see them as a waste of time becausewe truly do not think of our time as something
finite.
This tendency to spend time on little worriesis one of the greatest ways of inducing anxiety:
we do not look at our lives in the grand schemeof things and thus everything seems like it
(19:46):
is worth stressing over.
According to Kierkegaard, there are two waysto be aware of death.
The first kind of awareness he calls ‘mood’and the second kind of awareness he calls
‘earnest.’
Mood is when you think about death in a removed,abstract, and impersonal way.
(20:06):
Examples of this kind of thinking are ‘everybodywill die someday’ and ‘at the end of every
life is death’ or ‘most of us are goingto live until we’re somewhere between seventy
and a hundred.’
You acknowledge the existence of death butdo not relate it to yourself.
Almost everybody is aware of death in thisway, but it still results in death denial.
(20:29):
The other way of thinking about death, inearnestness, is personal.
You think about how you, personally, willdie someday.
And not the far, undefined future, but anypossible day.
Earnest thinking about death includes therealization that your death might happen at
(20:50):
any moment, not in some far away distance,and that it will include the extermination
of all your sorrows and worries, as well asyour hopes, dreams and goals.
According to Kierkegaard, any experience notconsidered through the lens of earnest death
is inauthentic.
In order to have a true genuine experienceof life, one must consider death.
(21:17):
According to Kierkegaard, life is fundamentallyinfluenced by death.
Those who fail to acknowledge this realityare not truly living, but rather living in
a fictional world.
When faced with the truth of mortality, thesepeople become anxious and scared.
Mortality is a truth about existence thatcannot be ignored, and doing so means to deceive
(21:41):
oneself greatly.
As soon as one does gain awareness of death,they cannot view life outside of the context
of death ever again.
This would cause them to reevaluate everythingin their life to see if it still fits in this
new light or, rather, in death’s shadow.
This is because when you actually, truly acknowledgethe fact that you, personally, will die, you
(22:07):
will be forced to think about what you trulyfind important in life and you will start
to figure out and pursue those goals withmore haste and motivation.
We can see examples of the benefits of earnestthoughts about death in real life.
After disaster strikes, people often involuntarilygain a sense of earnestness that then affects
(22:30):
their following decisions and behavior.
A victim of a near-death experience or witnessof a tragedy often suddenly picks up commitments
that they had been procrastinating on, andstarts ignoring petty concerns.
Because they have realized that if they donot act now, the chance might not be there
in the future.
So, in short, earnest thoughts of death willmake one feel a sense of urgency in relation
(22:55):
to their life.
One who truly experiences earnestness hasno time to mope or worry excessively, and
they certainly have no time to get lost inthe anxious paralysis we discussed earlier.
They realize that life is there to be lived.
And someone who has acknowledged and trulydealt with the notion of death would not be
(23:17):
paralyzed by the news that they themselveswill die soon.
Instead, they can continue living just asthey have before.
The only way to truly live life to its fullestand let go of all that does not truly matter
- is to consider your own, personal death.
Earnest thought about death is the way tolive life without fear and anxiety.
(23:44):
If you enjoyed this video, please make sureto check out our full philosophies for life
playlist and for more videos to help you findsuccess and happiness using ancient philosophical
wisdom, don’t forget to subscribe.
Thanks so much for watching.
Soren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher,theologist, writer, and culture critic born
in the year 1813.
He has published a fair amount of works inhis lifetime, most written under various pseudonyms.
These pseudonyms expressed all kinds of different,sometimes even contradicting, views that have
(00:22):
caused historians trying to find Kierkegaard’strue beliefs to scratch their heads.
Some of his pseudonyms were (00:28):
Johannes Climacus, Anti-Climacus, Constantin Constantius, and
‘The Individual.’
Some of his most notable works are (00:38):
‘Either/or’, ‘Fear and Trembling’, ‘Sickness unto
Death’, and ‘The Concept of Anxiety’.
Kierkegaard is widely regarded as the fatherof Existentialism, a theory asserting that
human beings possess no innate essence orfixed purpose and are free to determine their
(01:01):
identity.
Kierkegaard wrote extensively on this subject,although never using the term ‘existentialism’
himself.
He was raised by a very religious father,something that influenced Kierkegaard greatly.
Throughout his life, Kierkegaard was a verypassionate and devout believer of God, but
also a firm critic of the church as an institution.
(01:24):
Aside from religion, freedom, and society,Kierkegaard was very interested in the human
feelings of dread, fear, and anxiety.
His book, "The Concept of Anxiety" , exploreshis belief that anxiety is an inherent aspect
of being human.
Despite acknowledging that anxiety is a universalexperience, Kierkegaard's approach is not
(01:47):
entirely negative.
Rather, he suggests that anxiety may offera way for humanity to be saved rather than
doomed.
He believed that embracing anxiety could betransformative, leading to personal growth
and self-awareness.
And if you want to be able to transform youranxiety into something useful, too, in this
(02:08):
video, we bring you four tips from Kierkegaardthat will help you with managing the feeling
of anxiety.
1.
Use Your AnxietyKierkegaard says “Whoever has learned to
be anxious in the right way has learned theultimate.”
When faced with the knowledge that one hasthe freedom to make any decision and form
(02:32):
any opinion, an individual often experiencesa terrible case of anxiety or dread.
Making your own decisions means being responsiblefor them, and being responsible for them means
having to take responsibility for their consequences.
And what feels worse than realizing ‘Thiswas my fault’ when something does not turn
(02:54):
out well?
In his book, ‘The Concept Of Anxiety,’Kierkegaard uses the story of Adam & Eve,
specifically Adam in the garden as the veryfirst instance of anxiety.
God told him not to eat the apple from thetree.
This implied a choice (03:10):
Adam could choose to obey God or choose not to.
And as such, he felt anxiety.
When Adam ate the apple, the concepts of ‘good’and ‘evil’ came into the world.
But before he had taken a bite out of it,those concepts did not exist yet.
Thus, Kierkegaard concludes, ‘anxiety precedessin.’
(03:35):
In other words, in itself, anxiety is neithergood nor bad.
Anxiety, as we know it, is often a synonymfor nervousness, fear, or uncertainty.
However, for Kierkegaard, it was somethingsignificant in itself - an important term
that could not just be ‘explained away.’
(03:55):
As he described it, anxiety is ‘the dizzinessof freedom.’
This anxiety has multiple aspects to it.
On the one hand, it feels negative as it representsthe realization that you will have to make
an infinite amount of difficult choices likeWill you keep working for a boss, start your
own business, go back to school?
(04:17):
Will you marry and have kids?
Will you move countries?
Will you leave the love of your life for yourdream career?
On the other hand, it feels positive (04:25):
it is exciting and freeing to know that you’re
capable of choosing everything all by yourself.
Anxiety is, then, inevitable to anyone whois free.
So the key to feeling better is not to getrid of your anxiety, like most think, but
(04:47):
to focus on its positive sides and use it.
We are often entirely encompassed by the negativeside of our anxiety.
Aside from being dizzying, it can also bedescribed as paralyzing.
The sensation of anxiety when making decisionsand being responsible for them can be so terrifying
(05:08):
that we may freeze and not do anything atall.
But this feeling may never, ever pass - andthus, we have to move on from it and not let
it paralyze us, no matter how hard that mightseem.
Change is scary, so we stay stuck in a dead-endjob instead of risking a new job.
(05:29):
We might feel too insecure to try out newactivities, meet new people, sell our house,
buy a car, and so on.
But you will never, ever grow if you don’tdo any of those things.
And if you wait until you don’t feel theanxiety anymore, you’re going to have to
wait forever.
In order to focus on the positive, excitingaspects of anxiety, one should pursue what
(05:55):
Kierkegaard called ‘passion.’
These passions are your personal goal or mission- an end result you’re aiming for, formed
on the basis of what you rationally find important,but also what you emotionally feel strong
about and subjectively care about.
It is crucial to find such passions and gofor it with everything you have.
(06:17):
The anxiety will definitely be there.
What if this is a wrong thing to pursue?
What if I fail?
What if I don’t want it as much as I thinkI do?
But the trick is to acknowledge your anxietywithout acting on it.
When the anxiety comes, try to see it positively: think about how excited you are or how proud (06:31):
undefined
of yourself you will be after having takena risk.
See it as a reminder of the freedom you have.
See it as motivation.
Do something daring not despite being scared,but because you’re scared!
(06:53):
Anxiety brings about strong emotions, andit can be just as helpful and beautiful to
experience them as it is troublesome to repressthem.
Imagine you’re nervous for a job interview.
If you push these feelings down, they willfester and you might end up panicking when
the moment comes.
If, instead, you write down your feelingsand let them out, you will feel lighter.
(07:16):
And, you will feel brave - because you acknowledgeyour fear, you can also overcome it.
Lastly, anxiety can also act as an invitationto be rational.
If your anxiety anticipates everything thatcould go wrong, then you can make sure to
prepare for each scenario.
(07:36):
Similarly, your anxiety may force you to sitdown and think about whether you really want
something before you move forward.
In this way, anxiety can make you a more carefuland prepared person.
In short, Kierkegaard considers anxiety inherentto being human.
We’re free beings, and that’s a prettybig responsibility!
(07:59):
No wonder we’re anxious.
Anxiety is a reminder that we are free andit can help us in making decisions.
We need to learn to face our anxiety and useit to be more grateful, considerate and motivated.
2.
Acknowledge RegretTo quote Kierkegaard “I see it all perfectly;
(08:24):
there are two possible situations — onecan either do this or that.
My honest opinion and my friendly advice isthis: do it or do not do it — you will regret
both.”
Very closely related to this dizzying freedomis another one of the greatest things that
brings us anxiety (08:45):
the constant wondering whether we will regret the things we do.
How could we ever calmly act if we do notknow the consequences?
Kierkegaard acknowledges our neverending tendencyto regret everything and anything we do.
Every decision we make could have been somethingelse.
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If you pursue one career, you might regretnot pursuing another.
If you spend the afternoon playing video games,you might regret not playing an instrument
that day.
‘The grass is greener’-attitude is simplyvery prevalent and present in our way of thinking,
and for most people it’s unavoidable.
This constant regret seems like a way to bemiserable, but Kierkegaard argues that regret
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does not have to be as miserable as it seems.
Regret is a medium that can help you realizewhat needs to change in life, but it is not
something that should be dwelled on.
One of the ways to embrace regret insteadof letting it incapacitate you is to consider
all the possibilities you still have.
Kierkegaard said, ‘Pleasure disappoints,not possibility.’
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Pleasure disappoints because we regularlymake decisions with the hope that it will
bring us happiness.
However, the truth is, there are almost nodecisions one can make that are that powerful
- and as a consequence, any choice we makeinevitably results in disappointment.
But there is always a possibility.
(10:16):
Whatever state you are in life, you alwayshave multiple ways that you can go moving
forward.
The endlessness of possibility in your lifeis something to cherish and feel excited and
happy about.
You can always make a different choice andyou can always change.
But acknowledging all the possibilities youhave is not the best medicine for regret.
(10:39):
Aside from that, Kierkegaard sees the problemof regret mostly as a problem for pleasure-seekers.
All personal choices that you make are thingsyou might regret, but if you make a choice
in favor of the greater good, or a cause thatyou believe in, you often find that that regret
is further away.
Thus, if you find yourself regretting everysingle thing about your life, the best way
(11:03):
to combat this is to try and find a causethat means something to you and work towards
it.
If you make decisions that add towards a meaningfullife, you will be less and less plagued by
regret.
Someone who lives in order to be happy willalways regret everything that causes the slightest
feeling of unhappiness in their life.
(11:25):
But someone who lives in order to contributeto a cause, such as ending hunger in a certain
area, will probably never regret any decisionthey made that has benefited that cause.
So, when you feel immense regret - as allhumans do at some point - try to find joy
in the fact that you have endless possibilities.
(11:46):
But, most of all, ask yourself whether yourlife has meaning and if not, what you can
do to give it one - for meaning is the trueantidote to regret.
And the less you are afraid to regret, theless anxious you will be.
3.
(12:06):
Embrace AbsurdityKierkegaard considers that “The only intelligent
tactical response to life’s horror is todefiantly laugh at it.”
According to Kierkegaard there is actuallyno meaning to the world.
This viewpoint is called absurdism.
(12:26):
Kierkegaard defines "absurd" as ‘havingno rational explanation.’
The world is chaotic, irrational - absurd.
So how are we ever expected to be able tolive a meaningful life in such a world?
We often try to organize our lives in a rationalway.
We find meaning in our lives by trying tomake rational decisions.
(12:50):
However Kierkegaard points out that this methodis doomed to fail because the world is too
absurd.
Our lives cannot follow a set of rules ora clear structure.
This constant failing and confrontation withabsurdity give many people an endless amount
of anxiety.
It is nerve-wracking to be desperate for yourlife to go a certain way, or to want to view
(13:14):
the world in a certain way and find yourselfface to face with contradictions and oppositions.
Consider love for example.
There is no rational way to fall in love,no matter how hard we might try.
If one’s plan is to fall in love, one cannever do so rationally or by following a step-by-step
(13:35):
guide.
Of course, one could marry out of convenience,or date around to fulfill one’s needs - but
is that really what we would consider truelove?
In order to love truly, we must do so irrationallyand absurdly.
Furthermore, imagine a man who falls for awoman.
He might be an ambitious worker, someone whofeels like his intellect matches greatly with
(14:00):
the woman he is in love with, and the twoof them could achieve a lot together.
Then, imagine he finds out the woman is terriblysick.
A rational decision would be to leave her,to pursue his own goals and dreams in the
most efficient way possible.
The absurd decision would be to stay withher and trust that it will be worth it despite
(14:22):
all the struggles.
It is a decision many would be anxious tomake.
But we can all see that a true lover wouldchoose the latter, and we would not consider
their lives meaningless no matter how absurdand chaotic they might be.
This trust in one’s decisions despite thembeing absurd is a core pillar of Kierkegaard’s
(14:42):
advice for living in an absurd world.
Or, as he calls it, taking a leap of faith.
This leap of faith is the antidote to despairin the face of absurdism.
When the world does not make sense and wecannot act according to reason or rationality,
we just have to believe that all is alrightanyway.
(15:02):
Kierkegaard did so through his belief in God;an ultimate, all-powerful, and inherently
Good being that would guide his existencethrough this confusing and disorienting world.
One of the examples Kierkegaard uses to justifyhis dependence on Godly faith, is the story
of Abraham and Isaac.
(15:24):
God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his sonIsaac in the name of faith - an action so
very unethical, so unreasonable, that it couldonly be called absurd.
According to the story however, Abraham wenton to do it nonetheless, and just before the
actual sacrifice, an angel stopped him.
(15:46):
Abraham had passed God’s test by actiondespite the absurdity of the situation and
he was rewarded by not having to sacrificehis son, allowing them both to live happily
ever after.
As Kierkegaard said, ‘To have faith is preciselyto lose one's mind so as to win God.’
(16:06):
You ‘lose your mind’ in the sense thatyou refuse to acknowledge the world for its
chaos, arbitrariness, and absurdity, and youneed faith instead.
It seems like the most irrational of actions,but Kierkegaard considers it the most rational
thing to do.
Not everything has to make sense.
(16:26):
Sometimes, you have to make choices in virtueof absurdity: You choose things that do not
make sense or do not necessarily align becausethe decision feels right.
An ambitious man who possibly gives up hisambitions by staying with an ill lover is
a man who made a decision having no idea whereit would lead him - but he did so as a leap
(16:48):
of faith.
Making decisions that have no clear advantagesis very anxiety-inducing, but avoiding all
such decisions can only ever lead to disappointmentand more anxiety..
Thus, as Kierkegaard says, you have to realizethe world is absurd and make decisions in
the name of faith.
(17:09):
Only by embracing absurdity instead of avoidingit, will you feel less anxious and more confident.
4.
Realize That You Will DieIn our final quote from Kierkegaard for this
video, he says “Once you are born in thisworld you’re old enough to die.”
(17:35):
According to Kierkegaard, most of the worldlives in death-denial.
We vaguely know that we will die someday,but live as if we’re immortal.
We know we all age, but we still use all kindsof creams, cosmetics or even surgeries to
try to look younger, attempting to spreadthe myth that we have all the time in the
(17:56):
world and that we should never change.
And despite how carefree this might seem,this is actually one of the worst ways to
exacerbate your feelings of anxiety.
There are two ways in which people generallyavoid death.
The first is that they ‘get lost’ in thepleasures of the world, seeking thrill after
(18:17):
thrill.
All of these thrills, such as food, drinks,excitement and pleasure, are temporary.
These people are so concerned with temporarypleasures that they are blind to the big picture
of life, including the end of it.
These people live in the moment not becausethey’re relaxed and free of worry, but because
(18:38):
they know they would be paralyzed by worryif they looked just a little beyond the moment.
This way of living creates a heavy dependenceon such thrills, making one incapable and
heavily anxious without them.
The second way to avoid being aware of deathis clinging to some false sense of immortality.
(19:00):
This second form of denial is present in almosteverybody in society.
We do not live like we might die tomorrow;instead, we live like the end of our lives
is incomprehensibly far ahead of us, likewe have all the time in the world.
We let ourselves be caught up in minor worriesor trivial concerns like what strangers think
(19:21):
of you, how you should deal with your partnerforgetting the dishes that one time, and so
on.
We do not see them as a waste of time becausewe truly do not think of our time as something
finite.
This tendency to spend time on little worriesis one of the greatest ways of inducing anxiety:
we do not look at our lives in the grand schemeof things and thus everything seems like it
(19:46):
is worth stressing over.
According to Kierkegaard, there are two waysto be aware of death.
The first kind of awareness he calls ‘mood’and the second kind of awareness he calls
‘earnest.’
Mood is when you think about death in a removed,abstract, and impersonal way.
(20:06):
Examples of this kind of thinking are ‘everybodywill die someday’ and ‘at the end of every
life is death’ or ‘most of us are goingto live until we’re somewhere between seventy
and a hundred.’
You acknowledge the existence of death butdo not relate it to yourself.
Almost everybody is aware of death in thisway, but it still results in death denial.
(20:29):
The other way of thinking about death, inearnestness, is personal.
You think about how you, personally, willdie someday.
And not the far, undefined future, but anypossible day.
Earnest thinking about death includes therealization that your death might happen at
(20:50):
any moment, not in some far away distance,and that it will include the extermination
of all your sorrows and worries, as well asyour hopes, dreams and goals.
According to Kierkegaard, any experience notconsidered through the lens of earnest death
is inauthentic.
In order to have a true genuine experienceof life, one must consider death.
(21:17):
According to Kierkegaard, life is fundamentallyinfluenced by death.
Those who fail to acknowledge this realityare not truly living, but rather living in
a fictional world.
When faced with the truth of mortality, thesepeople become anxious and scared.
Mortality is a truth about existence thatcannot be ignored, and doing so means to deceive
(21:41):
oneself greatly.
As soon as one does gain awareness of death,they cannot view life outside of the context
of death ever again.
This would cause them to reevaluate everythingin their life to see if it still fits in this
new light or, rather, in death’s shadow.
This is because when you actually, truly acknowledgethe fact that you, personally, will die, you
(22:07):
will be forced to think about what you trulyfind important in life and you will start
to figure out and pursue those goals withmore haste and motivation.
We can see examples of the benefits of earnestthoughts about death in real life.
After disaster strikes, people often involuntarilygain a sense of earnestness that then affects
(22:30):
their following decisions and behavior.
A victim of a near-death experience or witnessof a tragedy often suddenly picks up commitments
that they had been procrastinating on, andstarts ignoring petty concerns.
Because they have realized that if they donot act now, the chance might not be there
in the future.
So, in short, earnest thoughts of death willmake one feel a sense of urgency in relation
(22:55):
to their life.
One who truly experiences earnestness hasno time to mope or worry excessively, and
they certainly have no time to get lost inthe anxious paralysis we discussed earlier.
They realize that life is there to be lived.
And someone who has acknowledged and trulydealt with the notion of death would not be
(23:17):
paralyzed by the news that they themselveswill die soon.
Instead, they can continue living just asthey have before.
The only way to truly live life to its fullestand let go of all that does not truly matter
- is to consider your own, personal death.
Earnest thought about death is the way tolive life without fear and anxiety.
(23:44):
If you enjoyed this video, please make sureto check out our full philosophies for life
playlist and for more videos to help you findsuccess and happiness using ancient philosophical
wisdom, don’t forget to subscribe.
Thanks so much for watching.
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