The Unexamined Life Isn’t Worth Living
Over 6 billion people live on this planet. They eat and drink, breathe, think, go about their daily lives. But is that really all there is to life? Even animals do that. Socrates laid down a challenge to the way we live when he said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Instead of accepting the status quo, we should constantly seek improvement in our lives.
People can get by without taking the time to sit down and analyze their lives, examining what they need to improve. But people who do that aren’t getting the most out of life. A college student who simply does the bare minimum to get a passing grade is wasting his time and money. Not only is he not getting the most out of a higher education, he doesn’t develop necessary work habits and study skills needed to succeed after college. Life offers so much more to the person who looks deep into himself and works hard to improve.
One might get overwhelmed by the sheer amount that needs to change. The sudden realization that days, months, or even years have been wasted is enough to make a person collapse into a chair saying, “Forget it, it’s hopeless to try and change now.” Once people thought Mt. Everest impossible to climb. But dedicated rock climbers achieved the impossible. The difficulty of a task shouldn’t stop a person from trying to achieve it.
A person finds that his productivity blossoms by examining which activities occupy his time down to the last minute. He eliminates time-wasting activities. He also tries to increase his efficiency in all tasks. It isn’t easy, but the rewards for taking every advantage of the time given us far outweigh the effort. One hour of redeemed time every day adds up to over two weeks in a year. In essence, converting one hour of wasted time each day into working time would allow for an additional two-week vacation every year.
The spendthrift does not lead an examined life. He opens his pocketbook whenever and wherever he chooses. The small bits of money spent here or there, another cup of coffee, going out to eat, or a new shirt, add up more quickly then most people realize. The person who leads an examined life avoids financial headaches by keeping detailed records of where the money goes, down to the last penny. He is able to account for every expenditure and then identify and eliminate how and where money is wasted. That allows a person to have more to spend on things that truly matter.
Living an examined life forces a person to evaluate what are the most important aspects to life. Most people don’t realize how vital relationships are to a quality life. When a person realizes that relationships are an incredible blessing, he is willing to take time and effort to cultivate them instead of simply taking them for granted. Living an examined life allows for both time and money to be spent building life-long relationships.
Time, money, and opportunities are wasted by not examining every aspect of a lifestyle. But the examination isn’t a one-time occurrence; it must be done frequently to achieve the greatest success. But in the end, the examined life is much more fulfilling than simply passing through the motions of life. Who wouldn’t want to live life to fullest?
