Live The Examined Life, And Create The Life

It was Henry David Thoreau in the 1800s—the transcendental era of literature, if you're a literature major—who wrote in Walden: "The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation." Of course if he were writing today, he'd say, "The mass of people or persons live lives of quiet desperation."

And it was Socrates, who lived in the fourth and fifth centuries B.C., who said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."

Our theme today conce
s both of these. Not much has changed in all the years that have gone by since.

So here's what we find. How did Thoreau get his unique observer point of view, his vision? Instead of being purely a participant, he was a participant-observer. No, I'm not suggesting you do what he did and go out and live in the woods to create and examine life. You can live in the midst of the hustle, as Socrates did.

All Socrates said was that the unexamined life was not worth living—in other words, the people who live like animals, the people who live from day-to-day, the people who never realize that they can have more than a job, can do more than whatever the authorities, the culture, the conventions, the government, are giving them to do.

Then there are those who realize, like Socrates, that reflection, that meditation, can give you those insights that will allow you to realize that you are the creative force in your life. You are the "E" in the E = mc2 formula that contains that HoloMagic c2 factor.

We're always talking about asserting your Inner Eagle. The only way you can do that is if you know you have one, and if you participate with it, and if you exercise it. And your first efforts at exercise may be weak, may be feeble, may not be very effective.

But as you continue to grow, you will have more and more power and dominion until you will realize that you create your life almost absolutely—though not in a vacuum, because there are large forces that move through. But you do create your life.

You see, the majority of people live lives of quiet desperation, but you can live the examined life, and create the life, the affairs, the career, the level of success, the level of love, the level of contribution, the mark you make on history, the legacy you leave, that you desire. If you desire, and put it into action consistently.

==================================
Publishers and website owners - You may freely use and publish this article as long as you publish it in its entirety, including the resource box.