cognitive

Eternal Return Thought Experiment

Nietzsche's powerful thought experiment: imagine you would have to live your identical life again and again for all eternity, with every pain and every joy recurring in the same sequence. This jarring exercise serves as existential shock therapy, helping you seriously consider how you are really living and whether you would be willing to repeat this life endlessly.

Source: Described in 'Staring at the Sun' by Irvin D. Yalom.

Varies

intermediate

anxietydepressionstressrumination

How to practice

1Contemplate the question: 'What if I had to live this exact life again and again for all eternity?'
2If the thought is painful or unbearable, explore what that reveals about how you've been living
3Identify what regrets you have about your life
4Ask yourself: 'How have I not lived well?'
5Project yourself forward: 'What can I do now so that one year or five years from now, I won't look back with similar dismay?'
6Focus on finding ways to live without continuing to accumulate regrets
7Use this awareness to make life changes that would make you willing to repeat this life