tba draft
JUST SOME INTELLECTUAL, PHILOSOPHICAL DRIVEL?
It would appear on the surface that Socrates' statement "the unexamined life is not worth living" is based on how great it is to just look at life, to look at life for the intellectual pleasure or rigor, etc.
But, that is not the case!
Like many famous sayings, they are not complete statements in themselves, but only 'lead ins' to the discussion.
It is the reason that counts here. The why of it.
FIRST, AN ANALOGY
An analogical situation would be that of an athlete who wants to be the best he can in his sport. If he did not look at what he was doing (examine it) and seek feedback (for correction and improvement), how good would he be? And the best athletes are those that seek and get more frequent feedback and make more improvements as a result.
It would be preposterous to encourage the athlete to just lay back and let it happen...so why would individuals do that to themselves and others?
SO, IF YOU WANT THE BEST...
So, if you want to live the best life possible, to be a champion at life in terms of happiness and satisfaction, how could you do that with following the same examination, learning, and feedback process?
How would you get to that point? By luck? Hoping for a miracle? By random life? (If the athlete thought he could just get out there and play without any other thinking or learning, he would get better, but how good would he be compared to the guy who did all the necessary parts for getting better?)
Basically, the unexamined life begets a not so great life, which in turn is not worth much - especially compared to what it could be, much like the champion athlete.
In their lack of knowledge, individuals do not see that life could easily (with some effort, of course) be improved 100%, and probably more than a 1000%. People who aren't there can't see it, though. They should ask of their wiser elders (the ones who operate at the higher levels) how great life can be.
Just as the athlete asks "how am I doing relative to what I could do?", all individuals should ask - especially since this game of life is far more important than a sport.
Just as the athlete asks "what do I need to learn to be great?", all individuals should ask. Each individual should be an expert in what makes humans happy and what actually doesn't, as humans are proven to be poor predictors of what will actually make them happy, plus they allow alot of crap to remain in their lives.
Part of the learning involves attaining the wisdom of how to live a good, happy life.
APPLYING IT
The process is not complete until it is complete, finished, done all the way to the desired endpoint of achieving true, enduring, unconditional happiness and life satisfaction.
So the next step is to apply what has been learned to life.
In that process, we must first find the lack of truth in what you're telling yourself.
Just as the athlete asks "What did I do wrong and what did I do right?" so he can do better, all individuals should ask. When they fail, it is almost always because of lack of sufficient knowledge, so they would look for, as the athlete would, what there is to be learned. An incorrect belief that is retained is a reflection of lack of sufficient knowledge and the lack of applying that knowledge to the point of correcting the belief.
We often will ask the following question first. But whether you do it at first or later, it is essential that you do it! Ask and completely answer the question "what do you want in life, what makes you happy?" If you don't ask that question, the question back to you would be "then how could you possible attain it?".
TAKE TIME
We are unable to grow toward greater understanding of our true nature unless we take time to examine and reflect upon our life. and without that we cannot attain happiness.
Examining our life reveals patterns of behavior. Deeper contemplation yields understanding of the subconscious programming, the powerful mental software that runs our life. Unless we become aware of these patterns, much of our life is unconscious repetition.
If we don't look at the patterns and the results, we cannot figure out how to harvest the potential lessons.
SO, HOW SHALL ONE PROCEED FROM HERE?
Decide the commitment level
We must have knowledge, so we must start gathering the knowledge. (D'ya think?!!)
The knowledge would consist of
1. Learning how things work in life (Use the Paths Of Life, selecting which you will do.
2. Observing what is occurring in life and what can be used and what must be corrected. (The Life Improvement Journal would accomplish that.)
Implementing this into your life:
While the journal mentioned above is an implementation journal, you'll need dedicated time to revise your beliefs and thinking.
Part of that process is actually stepping back, reviewing, and then nailing down your philosophy of life (click the link!) and how you intend to run your life (seevalues; operating rules;, your daily schedule and system, and a Life Value Productivity implementation. These would all be written out, so you would have these operating documents available to review and implement and run your life from.)
