DAY 226 - THE CONQUEST OF HAPPINESS

Day 226

Bertrand Russell (1872-1930) was a philosopher and mathematician.  During the course of his life, he wrote many books. Amongst others, The Conquest of Happiness (1930), in which he describes what is necessary to be happy.   He divides his book in two.  In the first part, he focuses on what makes people unhappy and in the second part, he explains what is needed to conquer happiness.

Having been written in the 1930's, his book remains relevant (besides the fact that some of his comments would clearly be viewed as sexist by today's standards).

For Russell, many elements contribute to the unhappiness of people.  Amongst which he mentions:

- competition: people feel they need to struggle in order to be the best and they get caught in the competitive treadmill.

- boredom:  Russell argues that a certain amount of boredom is to be expected and so that excitement should be sought in small doses and at the right times.

 - envy: many people suffer from it and it can create a great deal of unhappiness; one shouldn't compare himself/herself to others.

- sense of sin: obviously in that period of time, sin was a word in use, now we would maybe speak about  guilt and shame.

- persecution mania: what he means by that is an exaggerated sense of injustice, with people constantly positioning themselves as victims.

- fear of public opinion:  Russell believes people care too much about what others think about them, which causes a lot of unhappiness.

In the second part of his book, Russell talks about conquering happiness with the following:

- zest: having zest is about being open to new experiences and developing a variety of interests.

- affection: everyone needs love and affection, and Russell believes it to be an essential element to anyone's wellbeing.

- family:  developing good family relationships and especially being a good parent is of utmost importance.

- work: work, even dull work, according to Russell, tends to be better than idleness.

- impersonal interests: Russell deems important to develop a variety of interests that are not related to your field of work.

- effort and resignation: given all the problems and misfortunes that could occur in anyone's life,  to conquer happiness, you need to develop a balance between effort (using your abilities to control what you can) and resignation (accepting what you can't control).

Many of the elements that are proposed by Russell to lead a happier life were later on studied by positive psychologists and proven to be accurate.  Having interests, for instance, or avoiding comparing yourself to others have both been associated to an increase in the level of happiness.

Although there might be more recent books on happiness that take into account the reality of modern life, I really enjoyed the book.  It served as a reminder, once again, that happiness is not something you can stumble on, it is something you need to conquer and that requires work!!!

"Happiness is not, except in very rare cases, something that drops into the mouth, like a ripe fruit. Happiness must be, for most men and women, an achievement...."

"A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy dare live."

"A life without adventure is likely to be unsatisfying, but a life in which adventure is allowed to take whatever form it will is sure to be short."

Bertrand Russell

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