Here is an idea: when defining your New Year's resolutions, forget about Superman; instead, focus on making every moment worth re-living forever.

Improved fitness??

Improved finances?

Improved mental health?

What do you want to achieve in 2024? Here is my two cents.?

In 1993, I discovered an exceptional book, Demian, by Hermann Hesse.?

Demain is a concise book with only ten short chapters; you can read it in a single afternoon. It is a short but powerful book. It is about the life of Emil Sinclair and his friendship with Max Demian. In every chapter, Demian communicates radical ideas to Sinclair. For instance, the mark of Cain is a powerful symbol that differentiates their bearer. Eventually, Sinclair meets Pistorius, a talented musician who talks about a god composed of good and evil. It is in this same chapter where Nietzsche is mentioned.?

Among the many books by Nietzsche, “Also Sprach Zarathustra” is unique. Before continuing this blog, I want to be clear about the following disclaimer: I don’t share at all Nietzsche’s poor and misguided conception of women. Reading a book with fascinating concepts mingled with absurd paragraphs is sad. Let’s move on.

Zarathustra presents the Superman as the affirmation of man’s full potentiality and creativity; it is all about saying yes to life. His task is to bring the superman to life by overcoming humanity. Man is only a bridge between the beast and the superman. Reading Nietzsche is a kind of adventure; his books don’t have structure. Nevertheless, it is possible to identify some of his first ideas about the Dionysian vs. Apollonian ideas in the definition of the superman, the affirmation of life over death and change.?

It is interesting to know that In 1930, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created the first Superman story. Did Nietzche’s ideas inspire them? My point is that many people are familiar with this idea of Superman. Still, my intention with this text is to discuss another concept that is often overlooked but, I consider, a lot more powerful…?

The Eternal recurrence.??

Let's review the concept of Eternal Recurrence in three chapters of “Also Sprach Zarathustra”:

I The Convalescent (chapter 57)

After shouting like a madman, under the weight of a staggering thought, Zarathustra collapses as if dead; he is unconscious for a whole week. When he wakes up, his animals (an eagle and a serpent) tell him about the eternal recurrence, and he understands that his animals know why he collapsed when facing this abysmal thought.

II The Seven Seals (chapter 60)

Seven times, Zarathustra embraces life and its recurrence. It repeats the same paragraph seven times to finish each section… “For I love thee, O Eternity!”

III The Drunken Song (chapter 79)

In section nine, Zarathustra says that joy does not want heirs but wants eternity and recurrence for things to be the same forever.?

The idea of Eternal Recurrence means that existence is an endlessly repeating cycle to return to this identical self-same life: every pain, every joy.??

My take on this idea is that instead of having goals related to improving fitness, finances, mental health, etc., adopting a different way of living and perceiving is possible. Wake up every morning and live each moment to its maximum. Enjoy your breakfast, be kind and present with other people (your children, your significant other), feel the awe of the infinite, perform your work with excellence, and consider the possibility that, in some manner, everything that you do every day will be repeated forever.

In other words, the Eternal Recurrence might spawn a powerful rule for everyday life.?

What do you think?