Do You Ever Examine Your Life?

Hello, Angelwhispers! Your topic was enough to catch my attention and especially from a person who thinks. I had a very long response for it and though I am putting a shorter version but it still is very long, so bear with me please! Introspection, thinking and meditation has been a very important and large part of my life. Earlier, I was always found into it as almost all people, relatives had friends, would comment, “why are you always thinking?”. It was especially so in my teenage, when I had practically abandoned religion and became an agnostic. I was always looking for answers to everything on a broader perspective, linking everything together and their relationship to each other. I do this thinking and meditation a lot even now, I am just a bit more organized and structured now. Though I divide subjects, concepts and different aspects of life and universe, yet this division is just to facilitate, organize and structure my thoughts and thought process. My meditation is holistic in nature. I havn’t started just as holistic but actually evolved to think that way. I consider everything around as a part of single reality, to which there are different aspects and angle of visions. This view has helped me take into account other people’s perceptions, visions and point of views too as thinking holistically tells me that I may be seeing from just one angle and other person have seen the other side which may help me develop a better understanding of whole. I do not claim myself to understand the whole, considering the fact that I am fallible, limited (both in time and space) and a ‘part’. A part can’t understand the whole, wholly. Until now, I have just given introduction of how I take it and what method, I employ to do my meditation. My meditation is multifaceted covering all aspects of my life as well as life of universe as a whole. In purely spiritual dimension, I think of relationship between different entities of this universe. Why we are here? What is purpose of life? Is there a GOD in equation? If not, then who made us? Are we created ourselves or is there external factor and ‘being’ who created us? If there is no creator then is there any purpose of life? If there is a creator then why, how, when we were created? Are we part of a deity or separate from it? what is a deity in fact? What is good and evil? Are we good in nature or evil? What is origin and reality of these two misused and abused definitions? Is there Heaven and Hell? If not, where is justice at the end? If yes, where they are and what is the criterion? What is morality, ethics, piety? Is it really objective or merely subjective? How I can say something is morally, ethically right or wrong? All these questions usually boil down, in totality, to three basic questions which are WHAT/WHO/WHERE AM I? My materialistic side of meditation, which though is not separate from spiritual rather a part of it, as I already said that I see everything as a whole, revolves around questions like, what I want to do? What I need to do for what I want? How can I do it? Are my actions inline with my objectives? Am I doing things rightly and at right time? Where am I missing something and doing wrong? What I need to correct wrong doing? Are my definitions (of things, concepts and values) are right?; I try to retake my definitions every after four weeks (not fixed:-))and re-examine it if it's consistent with whatever improvement, knowledge, prayers, meditation and spiritual exercise as well as experience has brought to me. I myself tend to accept spiritual satisfaction when I find myself in confusion over a certain issue. This a a hell lot of an exercise which keeps me busy all the time when I am not doing anything. I have found answers to some of my questions, to others, I haven’t; but even for the questions that I think I have found answers, I am working on details while being open to any better ideas that may come from anyone, anywhere and anytime. My meditation has helped me a lot to keep myself composed and united as MYSELF. It has helped me define my goals clearly and to work for them with precision of mind. It also helps me to see where I need help from others and what I need more (from myself and others) to do to be able to be on target. It has been long, for which I am sorry, but believe me I had to cut a big part (which also included some answers) of it to come at this length. My response might have been very messy, confused and haphazard and with linguistic and grammatical errors but I don’t feel like editing it more than what I have already done:-). So please just ignore the errors. You deserve my yet more respect and appreciation if you have read this far:-) Thanks for the opportunity:-)

Most of the days I try to examine myself - my daily activities , the people whom I meet ...it is a whole lot of evaluating ...but I end up in distress .

At this point in time, if I'm introspective, its at night usually before I go to sleep. I have a new baby and that's really the only time I get to have my own thoughts - although recently its gotten easier. He's no longer colicky and although he has four teeth at nine months - he doesn't seem to teething too much right now. First, I go over the negatives - or challenges - as I try to word it -and try to come up with creative solutions. I don't do this every night. Most nights though, I try to do what Oprah encourages us to do - as is contained in The Secret, I try to list at least 10 things I'm grateful for. And why. I try to make it different. Sometimes its 10 things from that day. Sometimes its 10 things that were negative in my life, and why I'm actually grateful for those things. It is in meditations that the aha moments really arise. I did a silent retreat one weekend and had one or two really great realizations about my current verbal communication techniques and why I've kind of avoided close friendships the past few years. Meditation is great for this, even though the goal is to empty the mind. Sometimes things come up and you awknowledge them. And move on. I also do prayerful meditation where I do choose something to contemplate and sometimes I just relax and go thru my own sort of guided imagery. This was a great topic. Thanks and good luck.

Hi there! I do sometimes do introspection and thinking about myself and my goals and how I am going to get them right as I want. It involves financial planning and my relationships. I don't step into spiritual world as it's not my field:)

oh trust me,i do it all the time.when i don't even want to think,i'm actually thinking.i don't know if this is what i wanna do or is it what i wanna do.financial-not that much since i'm still in uni and dad's paying mostly everything but i'm 25 and i don't have a job just yet.i can't be working now since i'm doing full time in my masters program.shucks.told u i can't stop thinking.goals-i have tonnes of em!

I seem to give this kind of thing an examination on days when I get extremely angry. Why this happens, is because my mind gets into a state of higher thinking and when I get angry enough to a point, I just snap and calm down. When i do think about my life, i usually come to the conclusion that whatever makes me happy, I should continue with it and try to improve upon my negative flaws that scare people way from me.

Yup. It's the overall situation. Actually, I find myself thinking about what I am doing when something happened that I didn't like. It makes my head aches sometimes, thinking what have I done. Okay, to tell you what this is all about, my mom. I love her. But she keeps on getting into my nerve. I know, she's my mom, she's the reason why I am here alive and living a great life. I act sometimes like I dont respect her is because the way she talk to me. And if you're gonna say that I should talk to her gently, it's not gonna happen because I know that once I start a good conversation with her, I will just end up listening to all her yelling thoughts about everything. How come she keeps saying things like she has an enemy? What was the yelling about? And then after, I'll find myself guilty about it because she's my mom and I should respect her. And to tell the connection of examining the life to that situation? They said, that in the bible, it says there that you should respect your parents no matter what. Because if not, you will never get the success you want in life. And according to my observation ^_^, how can a daughter like me, act in a good way if my mom keeps giving me the reason to act in a bad way. I mean, she was supposed to be a good role model right? But thank you, I've just realized that no matter what happened, I can't hate her, because I know she loves me and I love her too.

I try to change what is holding me down but it seems like i keep getting doors closed on me. I don't let that stop me though.I do think a lot of what I want to do back in jersey and if I'll be able to do it,etc.like this discussion

WEW what a question , sorry the answer is no , i would say all the things i do is go to my college , chat with you all in the net , play games , hang out with my buddies and movies parties discoes etc.......the list goes on , so not much time for inner glances ... after-all what do you expect from a college goer :) its life that is moving me rather i moving my life's path hope its not bad :)

Yes..i go to trans for better concentration and think wat i do ..where thats going to take me..and xtra xtra

with a smile

i always check how my day went and evaluate some aspects in my life, whether it be emotionally, physically, financially, social life, academics, etc. emotions - i check if ive been moody, or happy. if happy, ill try to be happy the next day. if moody, ill determine my problem or its cause and try to overcome it the next day. physically - if i eat too much, i try to lessen it the next day. if i smoke too much, ill tell myself that i should quit, if i didnt sleep too much, ill try to recover the sleep i lose the next day. financially - if i spend too much, ill save the next day.. academics - if i flunk my grades for the nth time, ill focus reading on things i should focus the next day and exert some efforts. socially - if i get mad at anybody or happen to argue with somebody, ill check the reasons and try to resolve the next day. i want things to be right. i want myself to be focused so i examine my life almost everyday.. i dont want to regret something in case i die.