Indeed, life is a very precious gift from God. This is the great that we have to be thankful and grateful for. For we are the chosen ones, who have given the chance and privilege to see and witness God’s creation, to enjoy and savor the beauty of nature, to interact and to befriend with others, to experience having a family and a true friend, to experience how to fell in love with someone so special to you, to laugh and above all to embrace and fell God’s immeasurable and overflowing love for us. Indeed, we are truly blessed. That is why it is our mission and greatest responsibility to value, to care, to respect and to love our very own life.
“The unexamined life is not worth living”, Socrates said more than two thousand years ago. Yet how many of us really examine our lives, our beliefs and values, perspectives in life, opinions and world views. How many of us have convictions that we cannot even logically defend? How many of us question why we get through and experience this kind of difficult problems that come in our way? How many of us question why there are so many crisis and troubles in our society? How many of us question why we become disappointed and dissatisfied of our life? Many of us become willfully ignorant of what are happening in ourselves, in our society. We don’t question things, but rather we just believe and believe without thinking and looking for the evidence and real truth. This is a call to all of us that it is important to examine ourselves deeply for us to live a life which is meaningful and worthy. However, it would not easy for one alone to answer and explain what the meaning of life is. Yet, our life is monotonous if it is meaningless, and it is not monotonous if it has a purpose, a target to go. That is why, Socrates is really true to his statement that, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” In order for us to make our life becomes worth to live, this famous statement strongly addresses that we must examine ourselves first and then others in the society to find the meaning and happiness in life.
We must examine ourselves every day to find the meaning of life and to live a worthy life. Thus, it is important for us to know who we are, what we are doing. Because if not, we would not be able to live a good life. Without examination, we would blind and lie to ourselves. We don’t know what we are doing is right or wrong. However, nobody is perfect. All of us commit mistakes. If we don’t examine ourselves, we would not be able to realize and fix our mistakes. However, when we do examinations do not fully mean that we are living a worthy life. To some, examination is a thought of doing things with bad purpose or harm to others. On the other hand, for a virtuous person, examination is to gain knowledge, to seek for the common good. We would be able to live a good and worth life or find happiness if our examinations are based on our virtue. Without examined life, there was no point in living. We are just like a man living in a cave alone, separates from others, lack of sensitiveness to the real and the truth of life. If we are living in that way, our life would have no intentional destiny, purpose and ideal. It is full of dullness and mediocrity. We would end up living with illusion and imagination. “The unexamined life is not worth living.” I learned that the goal of Socratic interrogation is to help achieve genuine self-knowledge even if it often turns out to be negative in character. In this of Socrates, he is saying that, he would rather die than to give up reality. For him a life of imprisonment was nothing more than death to which he was sentenced. A life in which he could not explore and examine the world around him was ultimately useless. Because for me, he felt that if he was unable to examine life, he would not be really living. According to him, living means being able to question the world around him. I believe that Socrates is a hero. He was sentenced to death because of his beliefs.
In conclusion, this statement, “The unexamined life is not worth living”, reminds us that without the meaning of life examination there was no point in living. Life examination helps us either our personal and spiritual growth. We are unable to grow toward greater understanding of our true nature unless we take time to examine and reflect upon our life. Thus, one's life is worth living when he virtuously examines himself in order to find the meaning and happiness of life.
“The unexamined life is not worth living”, Socrates said more than two thousand years ago. Yet how many of us really examine our lives, our beliefs and values, perspectives in life, opinions and world views. How many of us have convictions that we cannot even logically defend? How many of us question why we get through and experience this kind of difficult problems that come in our way? How many of us question why there are so many crisis and troubles in our society? How many of us question why we become disappointed and dissatisfied of our life? Many of us become willfully ignorant of what are happening in ourselves, in our society. We don’t question things, but rather we just believe and believe without thinking and looking for the evidence and real truth. This is a call to all of us that it is important to examine ourselves deeply for us to live a life which is meaningful and worthy. However, it would not easy for one alone to answer and explain what the meaning of life is. Yet, our life is monotonous if it is meaningless, and it is not monotonous if it has a purpose, a target to go. That is why, Socrates is really true to his statement that, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” In order for us to make our life becomes worth to live, this famous statement strongly addresses that we must examine ourselves first and then others in the society to find the meaning and happiness in life.
We must examine ourselves every day to find the meaning of life and to live a worthy life. Thus, it is important for us to know who we are, what we are doing. Because if not, we would not be able to live a good life. Without examination, we would blind and lie to ourselves. We don’t know what we are doing is right or wrong. However, nobody is perfect. All of us commit mistakes. If we don’t examine ourselves, we would not be able to realize and fix our mistakes. However, when we do examinations do not fully mean that we are living a worthy life. To some, examination is a thought of doing things with bad purpose or harm to others. On the other hand, for a virtuous person, examination is to gain knowledge, to seek for the common good. We would be able to live a good and worth life or find happiness if our examinations are based on our virtue. Without examined life, there was no point in living. We are just like a man living in a cave alone, separates from others, lack of sensitiveness to the real and the truth of life. If we are living in that way, our life would have no intentional destiny, purpose and ideal. It is full of dullness and mediocrity. We would end up living with illusion and imagination. “The unexamined life is not worth living.” I learned that the goal of Socratic interrogation is to help achieve genuine self-knowledge even if it often turns out to be negative in character. In this of Socrates, he is saying that, he would rather die than to give up reality. For him a life of imprisonment was nothing more than death to which he was sentenced. A life in which he could not explore and examine the world around him was ultimately useless. Because for me, he felt that if he was unable to examine life, he would not be really living. According to him, living means being able to question the world around him. I believe that Socrates is a hero. He was sentenced to death because of his beliefs.
In conclusion, this statement, “The unexamined life is not worth living”, reminds us that without the meaning of life examination there was no point in living. Life examination helps us either our personal and spiritual growth. We are unable to grow toward greater understanding of our true nature unless we take time to examine and reflect upon our life. Thus, one's life is worth living when he virtuously examines himself in order to find the meaning and happiness of life.
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