The unexamined life is not worth living (Socrates)

When the same quotation comes at you from multiple sources in the space of a couple of days, it's worth taking a closer look. When Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living, I doubt that he meant that we should spend our time agonising about everything that we do. I prefer to think that he meant that it is important actually to be aware of what we do and why we do it.

Thoreau put it rather differently, when he said that:

Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.

If we insist on 'knowing' the answer to something, we will fail. But if we simply open ourselves to awareness from whatever source, the answer will often present itself. How often has any of us had that experience of finally 'giving up' on a problem only to have the solution come to us the next time we were relaxed and unworried - the proverbial 'it came to me in the shower'.

Of course, it is easier said than done - but when I wake in the night with a problem running out of control in my mind I can at least tell myself that the answer will come in its own good time, not at my bidding, so I might just as well go back to sleep or, failing that, do something completely different - like writing this blog. However, it isn't the middle of the night here at the moment.