The thinker argued that existence is not an equation that can be solved, but an experience that must be lived.
Soren Kierkegaard, philosopher: “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced”
We live in a time when it seems that everything has a solution, yet certain ideas force us to pause. One of them comes from Søren Kierkegaard, a 19th-century author widely considered one of the fathers of existentialism.
More than a hundred years have passed, and his ideas still raise questions in a society that is deeply focused on finding quick answers. Unlike other thinkers, Kierkegaard argued that truth is not something abstract. Instead, it is something each person must experience firsthand.
Not everything that hurts is broken
“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” This is one of the philosopher’s most well-known statements. It challenges a belief that is very common today: that every discomfort or difficulty must be fixed.
In reality, doubt, uncertainty, and even fear are not necessarily mistakes that need to be eliminated. Living means accepting risk and contradiction.
The point is not to resign ourselves, but to understand that some experiences are not meant to be solved. They are meant to be lived through and learned from along the way. According to Kierkegaard, we lose the essence of life when we become obsessed with constantly fixing it instead of simply living it.
The obsession with having answers
In the 21st century, we try to maximize the efficiency of everything: time, work, and even emotions. We want certainty, clear plans, structured paths, and measurable results. We want to avoid the unknown.
However, reality rarely follows such precise structures. Kierkegaard’s reflection can be seen as an invitation to accept that we cannot control everything and that uncertainty is a natural part of life.
The philosopher defended the courage to choose and to accept the consequences of our choices. For him, freedom was essential, even if it sometimes made us feel a little dizzy with possibility. Perhaps his message, more than a century later, is simple: life does not always go smoothly, and not everything can be resolved.
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