Socrates once wrote: "The unexamined life is not worth living."
What I want to know is: did Socrates have children? Well, thank God for Google because Wiki Answers says yes, he had three sons.
Good for him. He probably let his wife do all the work while he sat on top of a hill and said things like: "As for me, all I know is that I know nothing."
It's not that I disagree with Socrates. It's just that if I were a man–I'd have a lot more time for examining my life and then concluding that I know nothing.
Actually, I don't need to examine my life to know that. I already know that I know nothing because my kids remind me of that every day.
But, still. Socrates is right. Taking four days off has allowed me the opportunity to take a good look at myself. At first, I resisted. I felt untethered, unloosed. Exposed.
It took courage to step outside my predictable life, to try something new, to see life from a different perspective.
And yet, it was absolutely invigorating!
It's a risk to question beliefs, ideas and relationships. It's hard to "test everything." It's even harder to "keep what is good."
For me, critical thinking is recreation. I enjoy it. Asking questions saved my life.
And as I stood at the top of the Hancock Building, staring out over the Chicago skyline, I made a vow to myself: I will not live in fear and I will continue to ask questions.
I will not believe the people who say that God hates me.
I will not believe the preachers who say that my mind is inferior because I am a woman.
I will believe in the God who loves me.
I will continue to question.
Because the questions kept me alive. The questions made me strong.
The questions helped me find my way back to God.
Thank you, Socrates.
