Existential Therapy - helping you decide how to live.

There is something so simple and yet so poignant about these words said by the late Helen McCrory relayed in a tribute by her husband Damien Lewis that is very moving. As an existential therapist the lived life and how we decide what living is becomes a primary focus.

To be able to say that a life has been lived the way you have wanted it like Helen did, is for me what life is really about. This is truly joyful and inspiring. However, we have to create the life that we want to live, within all the limitations that we will have to face in some way.

Nietzsche’s Amor Fati relates to the question of an eternal recurrence of the life that you have now. Take some time to think about that...

How would you feel if you were to live this part of your life over and over again eternally? Would that make you happy? Would you feel good about that? If not why not? Imagine you knew you were going to have to have the same groundhog life for ever into infinity - you would change it to be exactly what you would feel comfortable with straight away, to make sure that you don’t experience an eternity of unhappiness. There will always be a limit to living, these may be financial or health aspects or authority powers imposing limits, but there are still ways to have autonomy over your own life within these constraints.

What if this is the only life that you will ever live...? Does that make it more or less important to find meaning and happiness? If it is more important, are you making the changes that you need right now?