A young man came to Socrates and inquired as to how he could obtain the knowledge Socrates possessed. The young man was invited by the great philosopher to follow him, and they walked until they came to a river. Without pausing, Socrates walked out where the water was chest high, and the young man followed. Socrates grabbed the inquirer, plunged him under the water and held him there until he passed out. He then dragged him to the shore and let him lie.
When the young man came to and his strength returned he sought Socrates again and asked, "Why did you do that? I almost lost my life!" Socrates replied, "While you were under the water, what did you want more than anything else?" The young man answered, "Air." Socrates said, "As soon as you want knowledge as much as you wanted air, nothing on the face of the earth can keep you from getting it."
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Just questions I asked myself after reading this story:
What do I want? REALLY.
How important is it to me?
How much am I willing to sacrifice for it?
Am I headed in the direction of obtaining it?
What are the next steps?
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What did you think about after reading this story?
2 comments:
I really truly think most of us have not considered this at all. What IS motivating our behavior. Are we just passing through life, not really thinking about what we want? I will have to consider this much more, my brain would like to dismiss it entirely and take a nap.
(so maybe after the nap)
But I think it could make all the difference, to stop, take the time to write out what you really want - to answer the questions you left for us ... maybe not publicly, but one ought to know, at least just for themselves.
Like a self evaluation. We all need one once in a while.
It's also ongoing. I don't think that these questions and my answers can really sink in on just one day.
I will have to keep meditating on this.
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