Turns out I have a limited amount of time and energy and I spend that time and energy on what is important to me. You do not have to ask me what is important to me just watch.
Some of my favorite sayings or Dichos have to do with this. In Spanish "Hay gran trecho entre dicho y hecho. In England "Many a slip twixt cup and lip" "Actions speak louder than words.
For me personally in this case it is more about self knowledge or discovery. Look back at what you choose to do or not do every day and find out what is really important to you. Or watch what others do and find out what is important to them. A fun and revealing exercise.
A funny story when a young person was complaining about not being able to get her homework done. I told that if she was not doing it then it probably was not very important to her. She became angry. Of course later I heard that "Don't tell him ,but he is right."
One that strikes closer to home years ago i was working for another farrier who frequently corrected my finish work on hooves. I asked one day semi- rhetorically when I would get good at finish work and he simply said "When you start to give a damn." I took that to heart, although in all honesty finish work did not become very much more important. At least in that case I have understanding of the situation.
Since then,with an interruption for some very time and emotion consuming life changes I think back on those to small incidents and now that I have some time begin to really grok my personal sense of Socrates famous quote, " The unexamined life is not worth living." Maybe for me it is not the extended naval gazing that I pictured in my mind. ( I see a big fat Buddha looking at his belly button) or long theoretical philosophical discussions with a lot of fun theoretical sense an nonsense thrown in, but a practical consideration of the questions "What did I do today. "Do I respect the person whose deeds those are?
Some of my favorite sayings or Dichos have to do with this. In Spanish "Hay gran trecho entre dicho y hecho. In England "Many a slip twixt cup and lip" "Actions speak louder than words.
For me personally in this case it is more about self knowledge or discovery. Look back at what you choose to do or not do every day and find out what is really important to you. Or watch what others do and find out what is important to them. A fun and revealing exercise.
A funny story when a young person was complaining about not being able to get her homework done. I told that if she was not doing it then it probably was not very important to her. She became angry. Of course later I heard that "Don't tell him ,but he is right."
One that strikes closer to home years ago i was working for another farrier who frequently corrected my finish work on hooves. I asked one day semi- rhetorically when I would get good at finish work and he simply said "When you start to give a damn." I took that to heart, although in all honesty finish work did not become very much more important. At least in that case I have understanding of the situation.
Since then,with an interruption for some very time and emotion consuming life changes I think back on those to small incidents and now that I have some time begin to really grok my personal sense of Socrates famous quote, " The unexamined life is not worth living." Maybe for me it is not the extended naval gazing that I pictured in my mind. ( I see a big fat Buddha looking at his belly button) or long theoretical philosophical discussions with a lot of fun theoretical sense an nonsense thrown in, but a practical consideration of the questions "What did I do today. "Do I respect the person whose deeds those are?
The unexamined life might not be worth living, but the converse is also true: The unlived life is not worth examining.
ReplyDeleteAh yes but what is the unlived life? I heard a guy on the journey home claiming that some people do not like it enough here to come back for a return trip!
ReplyDelete