Darren Ramon C. Avestruz Philosophy of Human Person N2



AN UNEXAMINED LIFE

“An unexamined life is not worth living..” This was the famous statement of one of the greatest teacher of all time, Socrates. A line which most of us do not understand its meaning not because it is a philosophical line but for the simple reason that we do not want to. It is as simple as that. We tend to deny on what is the truth. The truth that can be found as we take a look in our lives. Maybe, we are afraid. Afraid of knowing what we have done is wrong. Afraid of the consequences we need to face because of our actions. Man is like that. Man has the tendency to run from the truth. The tendency to leave all things behind without knowing what it may contribute in the future. We are like that, and i am just hoping for a change.

As I try to have a glimpse of my past, I started to see things which are familiar yet awkward to know. I have remembered few acts of mine which made me a man, but not a human. These are the things which i may have done consciously or not. But either way it goes, these are all wrong. The least thing I could do was regret and repent, and facing the consequences of these actions. Why? Do I still need to do that? It is up to every one of us but for me the answer is yes. It is a need and a must for me to do that. As i look back with my life I have tried to know what went wrong so that i would not be able to do it again. This became my way of reflecting what have I done with my life. Am I still living my life the right way? Am I still deserving to live this life? Where would this life go to? Questions that I would always answer not only for my own sake but also of those people around me. Questions that I would still be asking to myself until this life ends.

But what if life remains unexamined? The love, the hatred, the generosity and the joy remain still and motionless without any release, and life is no longer worth living. Therefore, the unexamined life is not worth living. The worth in someone's life is not to be determined by me. But I can say that without the examination of life there would be no worth to life. Worth is what people use to define why they still live. If their life has worth, they will continue to live and enjoy life. In this way an unexamined life is not worth living because without examining life you can not determine its worth to you, and therefore have no reason to want to live.

If you did not find the true essence of life you'll never know how much it's worth.
No matter what you are, who you are, if you learn to be at peace, happy and contented with your life, that what makes it worth living. When you set aside time to examine your life,
You get to choose your destination; You get to set the goals; You get to determine the path; You get to decide how long it will take;You get to decide whether you’re on the right path or the wrong path. In other words, you begin to know your self and to take control of your life. You decide who you want to be and begin to become the person you want to be.
Examining your life brings tremendous freedom. And I think that is the best thing you could give for yourself.