“The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living”
The title of this piece is a quote attributed to Socrates
This was said during a trial, where he was ultimately sentenced to death
As it is told through his apprentice Plato, we see that Socrates was willing to die for what he believed to be right
That in order to truly live a meaningful life, we must question the way things are
Our society, our institutions, our government, our roles, and most importantly ourselves
Today, I found myself diving deeply into self-reflection
Sometimes, looking internally at myself feels like the last thing I want to do
It is much easier to find ways to stay busy
To let urgency take precedence over what is really important
Self-Reflection is only possible when we slow ourselves down
When we disconnect from the pings, notifications, and external demand for our attention
We must let go the noise, we must allow ourselves to become still
Self-Reflection takes a great deal of Mindfulness, of Self-Awareness
As I thought more about the process of Self-Reflection, the state of Mindfulness, a lightbulb turned-on inside my mind
So much of what I write about relates to our Paradigms
The way in which we see things
The underlying perspective driving the narrative that plays in our heads
While we might have awareness of the surface-level story and role we hold
Teacher, employee, father, coach, student, spouse etc.…
The deeper Paradigms are still invisible to us
Without true self-reflection, our internal scripting remains unseen
While in motion, a part of our soul remains inaccessible
The surface-level-story is enough to “get by”
In the day-to-day busyness of life, we don’t prioritize the time and focus it takes to look deeper
Once a base-level is established, we return to busyness
Looking further becomes difficult
“Why spent the time going deeper?”
“There is so much to do”
We’ve become so accustomed to instant gratification, that anything more seems inefficient
Yet, until we create the space to disconnect, we will remain wound up
We find short-term comfort in unexamined lives, by pointing to our production
We can look to our external accomplishments as justification for our busyness
Perhaps this is the way you want to live?
And if so, please carry on as you are
But do you ever feel like you are on auto-pilot?
That your life is consumed by external circumstances?
There is no time for any self-reflection, you are just trying to survive
Almost as if all you are doing everything you can, just to keep your head above water
Without moving any closer towards the shore….
If so, it may be time to get uncomfortable
To slow yourself down enough to examine your life
What really matters? What is really important?
You aren’t going to find answers to these questions while in motion
You must push yourself, to stop pushing yourself
I believe we have all become addicted to stimulation
This makes it that much harder to disconnect
But through internal reflection, mediation, and introspection, things start to slow down
Once things begin to slow down, we begin to see what is driving our narratives
Identifying what is driving the narrative, allows us to finally see the underlying Paradigm
Can you guess what is driving your narrative?
It is your own emotion, the emotion kept unseen by remaining in motion
Your Paradigm is Shaped by your Feelings
Yet it Shapes our Feelings
How you See is a product of How you Feel
How you Feel determines what you Allow Yourself to See
To understand How We See, we must stop running from that which we Refuse to Feel
Anger, frustration, fear, sadness, vengeance, pain, grief
We seem to do everything in our power to protect ourselves from these negative emotions
Society screams “Take the Quick Fix Pill in order stay in motion!”
The process of self-protection creates a Paradigm of Refusal
We are determined to escape this suffering
Yet in the process, we end up escaping ourselves
To deny that is which part of life, is to deny ourselves
And suffering is a part of life
Given this, here is how I see the process
In order to truly become self-aware of our scripts, we have to become open to suffering
In order to become open to suffering, we must acknowledge that we subconsciously strive to deny it
In order to let go of our own denial, we must slow ourselves down
In order to slow ourselves down, we must allow ourselves to sit still
This is not a Quick Fix
The process takes practice, effort, dedication, and time
And when we find ourselves finally sitting still
Our eyes are finally opened to the previous scripting
We are now able to truly examine our lives from a new perspective
Our deep internal Paradigms become visible
We finally we able to see ourselves from the Inside-Out
Our lives become open to examination
Do you want to see the light?
