The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living
Socrates made this famous statement at his trial 2400 years ago. And, for some, what he said then is relevant to us today. Some people write in their diaries every day in an effort to see what they can about the life that they are living, and explore ways in which they can make it better. But, I also know that there are people who do exist in this world that continue to be confused when they make the same mistakes time and time again.
Like living in an abusive relationship for ten years and finally being able to muster enough courage to break away and start a new life. But, only a few months down the road this very same person finds another abusive relationship with another abusive person hoping that this time the plot will work its way out differently.
But, it is hard to examine our lives honestly. Actually it is hard to examine our lives at all, let alone honestly.
For example, I asked a group of students yesterday to take ten minutes and reflect upon their lives. “Just think about where you are now and where you are planning to go. Think about the whatever pops into your head and spend ten minutes examining it.” It wasn’t very complicated. Everyone should do this everyday. There isn’t much more to it than that. It could be more complex. One could systematically go over a list of what you are doing and how did you get where you are. One could ask all the question words about their situation and where they are planning to take this large endeavor called life. Socrates actually had method of reasoning and detailed this in the quest of examining his life. Of course he didn’t write any of it down and we only have his students records of it, which may not be an honest examination since any account is often distorted through the eyes of a third party.
I found the students to be unusually distracted. The brightest student in the class was clearly the least eager to take on the challenge of examining his life. Often the person who knows the most is the fearful of what he might discover. I wasn’t really surprised and I thought that with only a ten minutes to reflect on their lives it wouldn’t really make a difference anyway so I let the class devolve as the students quickly opted for anything else to do except think about their lives.
The brightest students seemed to be distracted by each other while the less bright students were confused by the idea of reflecting on their lives. They asked me to explain what I wanted them to do again and again. They looked at me with a puzzled look on their faces. The net outcome was that no one really accomplished the assignment. I was a bit disappointed, but I also realized that reflection among American youth today is a completely foreign concept, that seems to be avoided at all cost. Why does one need to think about ones actions when they are told what to do almost every moment of every day? They have adults telling them how to behave either in person or on TV in songs or on the Internet almost continuously from the time that they awake until the time they go to bed. When exactly do they sit and stare into space and just think about nothing? When do they take the time to organize their thoughts? But, the main question is, when do they sit and do nothing without suddenly spouting the phrase, “I’m bored!?”
So, are all the unexamined lives of our young teens worth living? They all seem to be so determined not to examine their lives even when they are encouraged to take a mere ten minutes to do so. It isn’t like they are an unruly class. In general these students take assignments seriously. The problem was that this assignment asked them to do something that they either didn’t want to do or they already knew what they were going to find and they were afraid of that rediscovery. They didn’t like the lives they were leading, but they had already come to an easy justification for their lives and they didn’t want to disturb it.
It is well understood among those who recruit teens that the young mind is uncomfortable with their lives. They want to be happy and they fear discomfort. They fear finding something that they don’t want and they are susceptible to suggestions of easy solutions to this problem. Some religions offer an “easy” list of rules to follow. These rules offer the hope of enlightenment that these students seek without the pain of exploring the truth in the context of their own lives. Sometimes a religious group will explore a tiny emotional exposure that brings a flood of tears to the unwary teens. The emotions actually frighten the teens into following the teachings in the hopes of staving off the possibility of that ever happening again.
Some groups offer projects that help the community as a substitute for thinking about the big picture. Members tell each other that they are doing their parts and there is no need to consider doing more. A continuous examination of ones life is nearly impossible, and the consequences could result in unintended consequences of society in general and each person in particular.
What kinds of disturbing things could discovered in an honest examination of ones life?
Well, if you honestly answer some of these questions you could begin to find out.
Are you doing everything in your power to take advantage of everything you have been given?
Are you doing everything in your power to reduce the suffering of everyone around you?
Do you have a plan to change your life and make things better for you, your family, your town, your country and your world? What is that plan? What are you doing right now to make that difference?
Do you even have a plan for how to make things different in the next few minutes? How?
How often do you re-examine your plan?
Do you have a safety plan for when things could go wrong? Do your safety plans include those around you including your family, friends, co-workers and neighbors?
Do you have justifications that keep you from doing any of these things? Are they really justified?
It is hard to honestly examine your life and feel good about the selfish choices that we all make. We all make selfish choices, myself included. The question is not really if we make these selfish choices but where we draw the line between selfishness and selflessness. The fear of losing everything and finding ourselves living on the street keeps most of us from doing everything that we can do. But, fear of being called selfish keeps us from keeping everything for ourselves. And, sometimes a bit of empathy helps us in our reaching out to others. This being said, how can any of us criticize anyone else when we realize that each one of us has his or her personal struggle with this challenge.
It is truly hard to examine your life. Is might be easier to make some choices and continue to live our lives without rethinking these choices. But, is an unexamined life really worth living? Then again, maybe you don’t need to examine your life if you love Jesus.
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Don't forget what Stephen Colbert said, "Reality has a well-known liberal bias."
Cross Posted @ Bring It On, tblog, Blogger and BlogSpirit
Reflection
