The 3 Benefits You Can Gain from Avoiding Trivial Battles in Life

Attaining Peace of Mind in Life

The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche has a parable called “Flies in the Marketplace” in his book, Thus Spoke Zarathustra. In this parable he describes the situation of dealing with annoying flies in the marketplace that you are continuously swatting at. The flies that he’s speaking of are metaphorically anything or anyone that acts as a minor pest that annoys or hinders people in any way who are trying to accomplish bigger and greater things. For example, any day in the news there are pointless stories such as, “This politician supported this horrible legislation,” or “That celebrity was outraged.” Another typical example would be minor gossiping that goes on at work among co-workers. Nietzsche recommends avoiding these petty people and hinderances in order to have peace of mind and instead focus on more important matters. This is not meant to promote long-term isolation from society, which would generally be unhealthy.

3 BENEFITS OF SOLITUDE:

1. Peace of Mind

   

   Being alone with yourself can allow you to find out who you really are. Once you are free of toxic people and their negativity you can rid yourself of their judgements towards you. You will be able to have more positive thoughts and affirmations of yourself.

2. Break Free From Petty Politics

Most people get tired of day-to-day trivial political issues and outrages no matter where they stand on the political spectrum. Getting some mental solitude from trivial political issues that you have no control over can be a big stress reliever. You could focus your time on bigger issues, such as issues that directly impact your and life that you do have control over.

3. BREAK AWAY FROM SOCIAL ISSUES

Avoid all the various day to day social issues that aren’t important in your daily in your life. Daily society-wide drama can stress anyone out, and unfortunately there is nothing you can directly to have any impact on it. For example, it’s always reported in the news that someone offended someone else at a restaurant in some town that you never even heard of and are supposed to be outraged about it. Instead of being outraged about such an unimportant news story, you can do something more helpful by not reading or focusing on it. Rather than be outraged about something that you cannot control, you can focus on potentially more positive things in society; like Elon Musks’ SpaceX program which has a goal to eventually colonize the moon.

As Nietzsche summed it up:

“It is not thy lot to be a fly swatter”

It is not your job in life to swat at all the small and minor annoyances that come up in life.

References:

Nietzsche, Friedrich (1883). Thus Spake Zarathustra, Wordsworth Editions Limited.

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