The Prescribed Life

Whenever I get too entangled with the inherent chaotic part of life, I always find myself taking a step back and seeking solitude, this tends to lead me into reflecting again on this timeless quote from Socrates; "The unexamined life isn't worth living."

I'm not sure if there's one way to understand this quote, or there are many ways to look at it.

I tend to see it as a pull to hit the pause button and assimilate what has already happened within a given time frame, which often reveals a lot of insights, hidden lessons or missed opportunities that I may have overlooked during the time of action/experience, caught in the busyness of life's demands.

Of course, when we're so immersed in the coming and goings of life's demands, we tend to develop a rather narrow focused view of our circumstances, as if we've jumped on a moving train without really knowing where it is heading.

Isn't it a bit too ironic that we're more aware of the past than the present, even though we continually live in the present?

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Fit In Structure

For me, the concept of living a "prescribed life" evokes a practical approach of following a set path, one that might be laid out by society, family expectations, or cultural norms.

At first, this is all well and good, because you've not figured out yet your own playbook, you might as well take the handed-down script and run with it.

As many of us know, there's a certain comfort in following a prescribed life. It provides a structure, a sense of belonging, and sometimes, a clear path to success as defined by those who came before us.

The real challenge is in discerning when to deviate from the prescribed path. Authenticity requires courage, the courage to question, to explore, and to forge a new and entirely different path.

Mistakenly, people label it as rebellion for the sake of being different. But I believe the underlying source is simply aligning one's life with one's true self.

Besides, there's a whole world of effects that accompany a prescribed life, in that it comes with a predefined notion of success, wealth, status and happiness, which frankly doesn't resonate with everyone.

While I'm deconstructing this notion, I'm also hit with the fact that living an examined life, even if it's periodically, requires a willingness to sit with discomfort, to confront my own mistakes, fears and biases, and to continually question the assumptions that underpin all kinds of choices I've made.

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It seems a bit too radical but embracing the messy, nonlinear nature of human growth and development isn't a walk in the park.

A prescribed life can be moderately static, but life itself is inherently dynamic. We have to adapt, evolve and periodically, entirely rewrite our scripts.


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