An Unexamined Life.

A life unexamined.

Original Thesis:

An unexamined life is an unfulfilled life. It is ignorant and stagnant and perpetuates unhappiness.

What does it mean to "examine a life?"

Imagine a life as a puzzle. The pieces consisting of memories, personality traits, aspirations, experiences, interests, priorities, appearance, etc. Anything that can contribute to the image, or the image of the life as a whole, is a piece of the puzzle. Puzzle pieces, as we know, are different shapes and sizes. They create a picture once made to fit. Puzzles are made to be solved. Puzzles, we know, do not solve themselves.

When a person's puzzle is solved, their life has been examined. They have taken every piece of their life and made them fit together. They then see their life in its entirety. They understand more about themselves, others, life in general.

What then, is to do with an examined life?

After piecing together a life, either a person like the picture they see, or they don't. It is up to them to change who they are, or what they're doing in order to make their life look the way they want it to.

The continuation of an examined life.

Very much unlike puzzle pieces, pieces of a persons life can change drastically or disappear completely. It is up to any given person to pay attention to their life and examine what's going on in order to rearrange or change things in order to keep the puzzle solved the way they want it to be.