The Unexamined Life is not Worth Living

In thrall to his accusers and the court, Socrates chose a noble death, no begging, no justification, no exile. When facing that terrible fate, he said the famous quote, “the unexamined life is not worth living”. The body can be killed, but virtue is eternal. Socrates got killed, yet his works and deeds survived. He became immortal by seeking goodness, surrendering to wisdom, discipline, valour, ethics, morals and a strong character until his last breath.

“I say that it is the greatest good for a man to discuss virtue every day and those other things about which you hear me conversing and testing myself and others, for the unexamined life is not worth living” (Apology 38a).
Apology 38a, Plato

What would I do in his place? Would I have taken the shortcut? Would I have been afraid of death?

In thinking about the episode above, I can’t help but wonder about our actions and attitude at every given time. What are we doing now, in the present, the only time we have to live? Are we spending enough time soul-searching and examining our thoughts, emotions, feeling and attitudes? Nobody knows when we will depart from this form of existence; life is undoubtedly fleeting, hence the need to self-examine. That is what the stoics called “Memento Mori”.

“Let us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life’s books each day. … The one who puts the finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time.”
Seneca

The ancient wisdom from Jewish literature also expresses a similar notion. In the book of Koheleth (aka Ecclesiastes), the Sage (believed to be King Shlomo) denotes the benefit of observing the end of things rather than going along with partying and debauchery. We live in a world that encourages and rewards profligacy, sensuality, or the life of the senses rather than reason. Our brains are chemically hardwired to avoid stoic discipline and embrace epicurean pleasures, though even the latter is misinterpreted. The Sage suggests that a wise person should be drawn to a house of mourning, yet simpletons, fools, those only interested in the service of their senses, to a house of merrymaking. In that sense, he advocates that vexation is better than revelry, as in internal conflict, one can reach true bliss through self-examination.

Upon meditating on the words of ancient philosophers and sages, I urge myself to embrace the discipline of self-examination as the pathway to a life worth living, to remember that we are only here for a very brief moment, to make every second count as the present time lost will never return. Though it often comes back in the shape of the ghost of the past, regrets creep in, besmirching our souls.

We take nothing from this world; that is the truth, but while we are in it, we have, like Socrates, a choice of how we want to live it and how we want to depart from it, whether with high moral and ethical standards, being the best we can to us and others, or by just living an inconsequential and unintentional existence.

How will you be remembered? The image next is a sculpture in a place not far from where I stay when I am in Austria. It is the “Die Pieta” or Cloack of Conscience. It is meant to symbolise what we leave behind when we die or what outlives us.

It says, “The love we gave, our deeds and works, the misery we went through.”

We are very preoccupied with reaching success, to achieve greatness so much that we forget the little things in life, the importance of virtue and the commitment to becoming a better person every day.

One of my favourite quotes for success is from Ralph Waldo Emerson, who understands success, happiness and life pursuits from a different perspective from most social media posts.

“What is success?
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate the beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch Or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Note to self: self-examine daily, seek virtue and justice, be kind, love much, and learn to find contentment with every little thing.

Friday the 13th, bad luck or Amor Fati?

As today is Friday the 13th, and just the second Friday of the year, I decided to write about it. I don’t personally remember this date happening in January, but in 2017 it did.

It drew my attention because I have been studying from the stoics _ this week to focus only on the things I can control. I have also started meditating on what it means to become. One of the difficulties of becoming is that we attach our lives to many meanings outside our immediate control area. And, of course, you cannot control a day of the week, superstitions, and other traditions.

The fear of the number 13 goes back millennia. First, it comes after a much-blessed number: 12, the number of government, of completeness, 12 months and zodiac signs, gods of Olympus, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles, etc… In western traditions, 13 follows the significant and respected 12, the fear of the number 13 has even been awarded a psychological terminology: triskaidekaphobia.

Donald Dossey, the author of “Holiday Folklore, Phobias and Fun”, tells us of a Norse myth about a dinner party for 12 gods at which a 13th guest, Loki, the trickster god, showed up uninvited and killed Balder, the god of light, wisdom, joy and happiness. The ancient Code of Hammurabi reportedly omitted a 13th law from its legal rules; nobody can prove it was on purpose, yet another nail in the number 13’s coffin.

In Christian tradition, there were 13 sitting at the last supper, and on Friday, Jesus got crucified; that has started an old Christian superstition that having 13 people seated at a table is a terrible omen. There are many other traditions (yet not proven), such as the day Eve gave Adam the forbidden fruit (not an apple, that’s for sure) and Cain killed his brother Abel.

When and why did Friday the 13th start to be feared?

Terrible things are supposed to have happened on this day; one that is closest to its meaning is related to the Order of the Templars Knight, which by order of King Philip IV of France, whose coffers had been emptied from his longstanding war with England (in alliance with Pope Clement V) ordered all Templars to be arrested and thrown in prison and the seizing of all their properties, titles and wealth in France. The Knights were accused of numerous crimes, including heresy and treason. The legend of Jacques DeMolay, the last Grandmaster of the Order, cursing both Philip IV and Pope Clement V as he died, still lives to this day. Incredibly, Philip and Clement died within months of DeMolay’s death.

Many bad events occurred on Friday the 13th, including the German bombing of Buckingham Palace (Sep. 1940); the disappearance of a Chilean Air Force plane in the Andes (Oct. 1972); the death of rapper Tupac Shakur (Sep. 1996) and the crash of the Costa Concordia cruise ship off the coast of Italy, which killed 30 people (January 2012). However, bad events happen every single day.

Most people in western countries attributed it as an inauspicious day, yet until the late 1800s, no one would think of Fridays the 13th with a particularly negative connotation. Credit for popularizing the Friday the 13th myth is often attributed to Capt and William Fowler starting a society called the Thirteen Club. According to a blog by the New York Historical Society, puts the initial meeting on a Friday, the 13th — Jan. 13, 1882, at 8:13 p.m., in room 13 of Fowler’s Knickerbocker Cottage.

This day gave us two terms— “paraskavedekatriaphobia” and “friggatriskaidekaphobia” to describe the fear of this supposedly unlucky day.

Amor Fati

In Hebrew, the number 13 is associated with the word LOVE. According to the gematria (Jewish numerology), the word AHAVAH (אהבה) adds up to 13. I don’t know about you, but despite all the hype around being a bad luck day, I would instead hold on to LOVE. After all, the perfect love, as told us by John (the apostle of love), drives out all fear.

The Stoics embrace an essential truth, the “Amor Fati”, or love of fate. One does not need to fear the day but welcome it as it is and love what happens. In that sense, there is no point in worrying about anything, including Friday the 13th.

“All you need are these: certainty of judgment in the present moment; action for the common good in the present moment; and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.”
Marcus Aurelius

What occupies our mind are the only things we can control completely, our actions and deeds. We cannot hold the events of the day. For that, there is no difference if that is a 13th or 21st, a Friday or Monday; all days are alike; we are the ones who give meaning to our existence by genuinely becoming who we are supposed to be, virtuous, wise, discipline and courageous, the four cornerstones of stoicism. Below Epictetus is clear that our divine ability is to make a choice and use our reasoning faculties to judge and decide. The day will take care of itself; I, therefore, remain unshakable in my resolve and actions.

“Keep this thought at the ready at daybreak, and through the day and night— there is only one path to happiness, and that is in giving up all outside of your sphere of choice, regarding nothing else as your possession…”
Epictetus, discourses, 4.4.39

We aim to embrace love as the highest gift and to cast out all fear, Amor Fati.

Let your mind be serene and calm

Protect your serenity at all times. The world is busy, flashy, it distracts you. It invades your mind with thoughts and images, news and appeals. Many things drive your actions the challenge is to only allow the very thingsyou should be think and doing to direct your path.

Below is a meditation from ‘Lifelines’ by Rabbi Avi Shulman to calm the mind and help us to focus as we go about our daily business and life pursuits.

“I am calm, serene, and in total control at all times. I am unaffected by the emotions of others. I will not allow anyone to unerve me, or project his/her problems on me. I am clear, assertive, pleasant; I speak in a low voice, never degrading or negative. I do nothing rash, accept no conditions unless every financial, organisational, and emotional factor is met, and I can succeed.

I am nice, but firm;

Pleasant, but resolute;

Delightful, but determined;

Cordial, but tenacious;

Respectful, but unyelding;

Gracious, but immutable;

I may not be able to control other people or situations, but I can always control my attitude.”

It is your choice what to think and how to react in any circumstances, stay focused on the target, on what you want to build and create for your life. To set yourself on the right path you must be calm and serene at all times.

Too much Social not much living

There’s angst that rises from within, a silent cry. We reach out to our own identities in a busy, loud world that forces us to have, to own, to go, to do, force a smile, fake happiness. It wants our constant unswerving attention; it wants to master us, keeping us distracted, discouraging us from stopping, thinking, reflecting and discovering out who we are. That can only be found reaching within.

We exchange peace and solitude for constant limelight, the social media spotlight. That is killing us; our species is living a severe existential crisis. For most, that angst is kept silence within while striving to ‘get by with a smile.’

When we forget the simple we neglect the essential; we become blind to what is truly beautiful in this world.

Too much social yet not much living. Too much attention-grabbing effort very little delivering value affecting the lives of people in a meaningful way. The numbers battle, we all want a piece of the action, a dive in the money stack, a ride in the Lamborghini, a nightstand with the blonde of the hunk with six-pack with a bright smile.

Social Media Threat — Henry David Thoreau

Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus have written an amazing book on slowing down and reducing your living so you can live a more fulfilled life – Minimalism: Essential Essays. The essence is to look inside of you and ask the question how much do I really need to be happy?

“Happiness, as far as we are concerned, is achieved through living a meaningful life, a life that is filled with passion and freedom, a life in which we can grow as individuals and contribute to other people in meaningful ways. Growth and contribution: those are the bedrocks of happiness. Not stuff. This may not sound sexy or marketable or sellable, but it’s the cold truth. Humans are happy if we are growing as individuals and if we are contributing beyond ourselves. Without growth, and without a deliberate effort to help others, we are just slaves to cultural expectations, ensnared by the trappings of money and power and status and perceived success.”
― Joshua Fields Millburn, Minimalism: Essential Essays

In Walden, transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau encourages us to pursuit nobility in living a simple life surrounded by nature. He is on a journey towards natures and his own nature. In 2015, I decided to start this journey, the one I’m still on and have not to regretted an inch. When you stop living under the pressure of others, society, family and friends you can finally stop and breathe.

Fact is we have never had so much ‘social’ online time and never felt so much isolated and lonely. We have traded living for existing. What should we do then?

STOP – TURN AROUND – TAKE A BREATH – SMILE INSIDE – BE THANKFUL – JUST BE

In Thoreau’s case, The Minimalists guys and even myself we discovered that going back to nature as well as going back to one’s nature was the key to leave a life of social conformity and embrace a life of true self-reliance and self-actualisation.

What is it for you?

What is the future like?

time is life — our time is limited therefore we must learn how to use it.

Growing up as a kid that has always seem to be one of my greatest areas of concern. The future is shaped but the decision we make in our present time. Those decisions are shaped by the state of our minds. Our destiny for better or worse is determined by those choices.

No matter who you are or what you do, where you work, how much money or friends you have, whether you are successful or not, there are three realities affecting us every day – time, our mind and our actions.

We are all engaged in the physical world around us, the first reality we are welcomed in when we are born.

Secondly, as our awarenesses grow as humans we realise we can think and engage with others in this physical world. Our thoughts start then reminding us that we do not only have a conscience but we also have feelings and emotions to deal with. Though we haven’t got a clue how to handle them, we have decisions to make and barely any time given to think about them.

Thirdly, in the world we live in today, we are surrounded by an invisible yet prevailing cloud of information, data and digital technology forcing us to learn fast how to navigate through the challenges presented by this new environment or risk to be left behind.

I’ve diligently set out to explore and research the intersection of those three realities and how they are now and will continue to shape our lives in years and decades to come.

The future is the only destination we have, but we look to the past and learn from our history, our personal stories and narratives, we learn to make decisions in the present that eventually will affect where we will be tomorrow.

I would like to invite you to join me in discovering together what all that means to us. How we can build better relationships, business practices and learning systems to empower people to be and to live their life given dreams. Help business to grow ethically and sustainable, and hopefully to become better human beings.

“…Your future hasn’t been written yet. No one has. Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one.– CHRISTOPHER LLOYD, AS DOC BROWN (Back to the Future)

Leave your past in the past…

The Power of Now — Discovering the power of NOW

American Psychologist Rollo May believed depression was the “inability to construct a future”. Depression is rampant in our modern society and a very complex subject to tackle.

Whilst a great portion of what is felt when depressed might be related to physiology and chemicals in our brains, a lot of it is directly associated to the way one thinks of oneself. The way in which I reflect and respond to stimuli and the narratives I construct create my ‘reality’, almost always related to my past life registries and the interpretation of my personal history.

That has a direct effect on the choices I make and the decisions I take for the creation of a better future. This is true for every single human being. Some have managed to rewire their brains retraining their minds whilst the large majority lead as Henry David Thoreau wrote in Walden, “lives of quiet desperation”.

Many people get trapped in an ever-present past reality. Living and reliving an almost unconscious sensory loop, oblivious to the mind trap they find themselves in. Self shortsightedness prevents them from reasoning the meaning and origin of such feelings. Then they go on blaming life, God, family members, past relationships, the world (you name it!) for the state they find themselves in and their shortcomings in life.

They miss the power that exists in the NOW because they just can’t let go of their past traumas, pain, sorrows, fears and frustrations. All those toxic negative experiences caged inside the mind become a constant trap in moving forward towards the desired future.

NOW is all we have to change anything! Don’t let you past negative experience, toxic relationships and traumas dictate how you live, your decisions and how you move on with your life. TAKE OWNERSHIP OF YOUR MIND!

The only power your past has over you is the one you give to it, the meaning it has for you. You don’t have to trip over what is behind if you just leave it behind, for good!