Socrates is credited with saying that the unexamined life is not with living. Psalm 6:3-4 says, But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. While most of us no longer have time to sit around thinking big philosophical thoughts, the notion is a valid one. But what does it mean today to examine your life?
It’s about reflection, taking 10-20 steps back from your life to see where you’ve been, and taking that knowledge to look forward. The Big Picture.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself. They might help you begin your own examination:
1. How is my life going?
On an average day, is it good enough that you want to live it over? If you have to pick one emotion to describe your overall state of mind, your everyday mood, what would it be?
2. When I look over the past six months and year, what have I learned from my mistakes?
Successfully running your life is a process of elimination where mistake are opportunities to learn a lesson so you don’t make the same mistakes again. What have you learned?
3, What is my one conflict?
Everyone experiences one conflict in life which disguises itself differently all the time.
The concept here is that everyone is essentially grabbling with one core issue that your life is trying to resolve, one problem that your life is circling around. When you look back over the past, 5, 10, 20 years, and the problems you’ve faced, is there something that links them all together? What can’t you do! What is your emotional Achilles Heel? If you were to see your past year played out as a movie, what would the title of that movie be? Mine would definitely be “Glossophobia“ The fear of speaking my mind. It’s not that I afraid of being judged, it’s because I am usually interrupted when I speak my mind. So I just keep my mouth shut. I think that’s why I’m a writer, I have all this stuck in my brain circling around.
4. Does my life reflect my values?
The obvious question before this one is, “What are my values?” Most of us have them, though they may not be clearly thought out and sometimes shift. If that is the case, take some time to consider and write down what your values may be – defining what is important in life and what it means to you to be a good human being. The next part is evaluating whether there is a gap between your values and the way they are reflected in your everyday life.
5. Do I have integrity?
Integrity comes from the Latin integrity, meaning unified, whole. This is taking the question of values a step further, or deeper, and whether your inner and outer self are the same. How you think about yourself and how you believe, represented by the outer you that you present to others. Are they the same? Is there a gal between them? What do you need to do to bring them back in line?
6. Had my vision of the future changed?
This question can obviously mean whether you are, more or less optimistic, or pessimistic, about the future, likely reflecting your current emotional state of affairs. But the other view is a software update. Have you current priorities and goals changed since the last time you checked in with yourself.? Maybe it’s time to upgrade who you are and what you want.
7. What do you need to change in the next six months, next year, to make your life better, be who you want to be, have the future you envision?
Maybe it’s time to think in terms of concrete behavioral changes – bad habits you want to give up, new ones to develop, parts of your personality that have been pushed to the sideline of your life that you want to reclaim or expand. Maybe it’s time to come up with a plan to begin this process.
If you’re ready to sit down, mull, and write down what emerges. It helps to do this when your not rushed.
I know this is something I need to pay more attention to in the near future. I don’t spend enough time examining myself like I should. I need to see what my life is trying to tell me.
From Pity to Praise 