The pursuit of happiness. How can we pursue happiness? Socrates believes that by fully knowing oneself a person will be able to achieve happiness as men’s goal is to obtain happiness and such goal motivates us to act towards or avoid things that could have negative repercussions in our lives.
A kid’s eyes were so innocent, playing with their friends, their smile is brighter than the light of the sun and running endlessly with freedom. It was always like that until they have reached their adulting stage. By experiencing the challenges in life, many people would say, “I miss being a kid”, even me.
When we are at the age of maturity, there are countless thoughts running in our minds. We like to do that, we want to become like this or we want to achieve even the littlest things that we might not be able to have. But I do believe that people with big dreams are the people who are difficult to deal with. They set those goals, we are setting goals having a reason to continue to live.
However, we may come across a great number of problems. We may fail or succeed, it is either of the two. Yet, the question is if what we will do if we fail? Are you going to give up or fight? Are you going to choose to be stuck and not move forward or you will take a step on that stairs of hope? And if you succeed, are you going to be happy? Are you going to feel the contentment? Or are you going to find another goal to explore the cruelty of life?
Some people consider material things as their happiness in life and some were not as they feel contented of what they have. How can we pursue the real meaning of happiness? And I am asking that question for myself too. Honestly, I do not know the answer. So, I observed, I looked at the people who were walking at the street. I can see different expressions that were so hard to read.
A father whom smiling with his child, hiding those burden in his back because he wants his child to have a secured life.
An old-woman alone thinking she has no one to hold onto but there is this child who helped her to walk on the other side of the street.
Those vendors at the market trying to get the attention of the customers passing by with the sweat on their foreheads even so they are still wearing that pleasing facial expression to make a living. It was hard to watched but I felt the happiness inside me by seeing them.
Socrates also posited that possession of knowledge is a virtue and that ignorance is a depravity, that a person’s acceptance of ignorance is the beginning of acquisition of knowledge. So, one must first have the humility to acknowledge one’s ignorance so as to be able to know what he is lacking and what he needs to know.
People starts with ignorance. All our life, we are asking a lot of questions and up to this time a few still do not have answers. We are curious about innumerable things, we questioned ourselves today and on the next day we have a new question again. In spite of that, it is our path to gain knowledge on something.
We were searching and searching for answers. The most common question is, “Who are we? Do we know ourselves?”, even if we demand a great exertion of effort, we still cannot answer this. Why? For the reason that we are still alive. Through time, we changed and at the present time is still changing. You can define your attitude, characteristic or personality but you cannot define who you are. But one thing is for sure, you are you.
“An unexamined life is not worth living”, it is this quote that keeps me going. I want my life to be worth living. I want to find my purpose why I am living. There are people who says, “Why doing such things if you will just die in the end?”. I hate those people. They are discouraging humans to persevere. Stop living or exploring is like you end your life. The world is beautiful although it is survival of the fittest out there. And maybe, just maybe, you will find yourself somewhere. It is a matter of perspective if you will choose to explore or remain to be ignorant.
Socrates supposed that the answer to our pursuit in knowing ourselves lies in our own abilities and wisdom, and that the only way for us to understand ourselves is though internal questioning or introspection.
This world is our playground, we are allowed to gamble, it is our privilege. Did you ever ask yourself if you are being wise with those abilities that you have? With so many years that you have live what information did you get? Did you use it well?
It is a circumstance of choice, if you will find yourself or not. Open those doors, enter each of them. There will be a door that is easy to find the way out, there will be a door that have many hindrances to pull you and there will be a door that you have anything that you want until it lures you not to go out.
It is so effortless to ask ourselves who we are otherwise it is burdensome to understand who we truly are.
Sometimes, I am asking myself of what I really want. A nurse? A doctor? A writer? A photographer? A businesswoman? I was confused because I want to be all of those. But I want to care for my parents too when they get older, I want to be a supporting sister with my siblings, I want to be the best friend of my best friend and I always want to be the sweetest granddaughter of my grandparents.
Socrates made me realized something that we can have all what we want. Discovering ourselves may take time or forever nevertheless we need to survive and continue to live.
“Walk slowly through your journey”
This is beautiful and insightful.