The Unexamined Life
Modern living is so busy that we don’t always have the time or the energy to examine our lives closely to make sure that we are doing all we can to make our lives more fulfilling. Learn how to accomplish this more easily and to help ourselves to live happier, less stressful lives.
In 399 BC Socrates, a Greek philosopher spoke these words The unexamined life is not worth living. These words are just as true today as they were those many centuries ago.
Why was it so difficult then and still is so hard today to look at our lives with a critical eye? It is difficult because what we find when we examine our lives too closely is that much that is happening to us is not what we had hoped our lives would be and when we acknowledge that truth, we must then make an effort to either accept and adjust to harsh realities or to begin to make possible changes both difficult alternatives.
A more common choice that many people make is to escape thinking too much about what is happening to them by masking their problems with all sorts of available drugs-constant new experiences , tranquilizers, food addictions, current fashionable drug and liquor choices which ultimately do not solve their problems, but rather become harmful addictions in themselves and complicate their lives even further.
How is it possible to change this harmful cycle?
- The first truth we must learn is that there has never been an easy road to change.
- We have become the individual that we are today because of many influences both from inborn tendencies and from past negative and positive experiences. If some trait that we carry from the past is no longer working for us, we must have the courage to look at it with a critical eye and make the necessary changes.
- We must make sure that each day and each week and each month has some sort of balance between responsibility and relaxation. This balance is an essential component of a happier life.
- We must re-evaluate our relationships so that most of them give us a sense of satisfaction. If we need professional help to make all of these changes, we are lucky to live in a time when such help is readily available.
The examined life is ultimately a happier, more creative life which helps us function both personally and socially in a more loving way and which ultimately benefits not only ourselves, but our families, our communities, and our world.
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