The Conquest Of Happiness According To Bertrand Russell

Born in Wales in 1872, Bertrand Russell was not a happy child He himself defines his feelings in childhood as follows: “fed up with the world and overwhelmed by the weight of its sins.” At the age of six he lost his parents and was raised by his paternal grandparents, who instilled in him very strict moral ideas.

Later, at the age of five, he began to think that if he lived to be seventy he had only endured a fourteenth part of his life, and the long years of boredom that lay ahead seemed unbearable. In adolescence his situation did not improve, and he comments that he was on the brink of suicide several times.

With this history we could imagine a depressed adult, with symptoms of anxiety, insomnia, and a good number of neuroleptics on his nightstand. However, in his adult stage this philosopher says having learned to enjoy life

What did Russell discover to achieve an enthusiastic and happy maturity and enjoy life?

The conception of happiness according to Bertrand Russell

These are some of the keys that the philosopher highlighted to guide oneself towards the state of happiness.

Put the focus of attention on the outside

The British philosopher made an interesting discovery He realized that by worrying less about himself, stopping continually reflecting on his faults, fears, sins, defects and virtues, he managed to increase his enthusiasm for life.

He discovered that placing your focus on external objects (various branches of knowledge, other people, hobbies, his work…) he was getting closer to his ideal of happiness and his life was much more interesting.

In his writings he tells us that expansive attitudes produce joy, energy and motivation, on the contrary that being closed in on oneself inevitably leads to boredom and sadness.

In the words of Russell, “he who does nothing to distract his mind and allows his worries to gain absolute control over him, behaves like a fool and loses the ability to face his problems when the time comes to act.”

The idea is to increase the external interests, make them as varied as possible, in order to have more opportunities for happiness and be less exposed to the whims of fate, since if one fails you you can turn to another. If your interests are as broad as possible and your reactions to the things and people that interest you are friendly and not hostile, you are more likely to come closer to everyday happiness.

How can we encourage this expansive attitude?

So, simply by focusing on everyday activities will we be happy?

Staying focused on the outside will make us more motivated and enthusiastic, but it is not the only ingredient of happiness.

According to Russell, a theory that would fit with the ideas of contemporary cognitive psychology, to be reasonably happy you have to learn to think in the right way and at the right time To paraphrase him, “The wise man only thinks about his problems when it makes sense to do so; the rest of the time he thinks about other things or, if it’s night, he doesn’t think about anything.”

Cultivate an orderly mind It will undoubtedly increase our happiness and efficiency, thinking about each thing in its time will keep our mind clear and awake and will allow us to stay more in the present moment.

And how does he invite us to think in the right way?

The philosopher encourages us to confront thoughts that scare us or incapacitate us. According to him, the best procedure for any type of fear consists of the following:

“Think rationally and calmly about the topic, putting great concentration to become familiar with it. In the end, that familiarity will dull our fears and our thoughts will move away from him.”

It also encourages us to confront our thoughts and discard those that do not adapt to us or are far from reality.

Effort and resignation

According to Russell, happiness is an achievement and not a divine gift, therefore we have to fight for it and strive to achieve it.

However, in the face of certain unavoidable circumstances in life, the most advisable thing is resignation (which I would call acceptance). Wasting time and emotions in the face of inevitable setbacks is totally useless and threatens mental peace.

In the words of Reinhold Niebuhr, “Have the serenity to accept the things you cannot change, the courage to change the things you can, and the wisdom to be able to differentiate them.”