Situational Ethics; Modern Folly
Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here?
Life with no boundaries - this is where tolerance has brought us. No one dares claim a definitive value for right and wrong; but in the end what will claim us?
It’s a Big World Out There
Life is a serious proposition; it should be treated as such. How you live your life, regardless of your philosophical beliefs, demands an intrinsic knowledge of your self, your moral compass and what you believe to be true or false. It is a fallacy to assume that you can put off the troublesome obligation of introspection until a situation demands it. That would be akin to jumping off a mountain without considering the laws of physics.
Natural law requires you to choose a path. As long as you walk through this life, you are making choices with every step you take. You may think you have escaped this onus by refusing to peer beneath the surface of your actions, but that - in itself - is a choice. Wander where you may, your life will be made up of moral and ethical decisions that you make based on knowledge of self, a moral code or refusing to make a conscious decision.
What you believe dictates your thoughts, words and actions. Without examining the world around you and the laws that rule both the physical and metaphysical levels of it, there is no possibility of judging your options with objectivity. This will inevitably lead to a broken, discordant existence, for their can be no consistency in a life without guiding principles.
The Pearl of Great Price
You would not take a constitutional stroll along a ravine on a moonless night (assuming you are a rational human being) because of the danger involved to your corporeal self. So why, then, would you wander aimlessly through life, blind to the intrinsic spiritual form that makes you you. Your soul, or whatever you may choose to call your consciousness, is the most vital, alive force that separates your self from other selves. Whether you believe in an afterlife or not, acknowledge a higher power or stand strong, supported by your individuality, this indivisible characteristic ought to be the most cherished and well-nourished facet of your being.
It is nearly impossible to make a rational decision when in the midst of emotional turbulence. Therefore, you must know what you hold dear, and what line you will not cross before you encounter that line.
As Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” How could it be? If you live to be 80-years-old and look back on your life, what will you consider the proudest moments? The struggle to hold strong to your most dearly held beliefs? The loves and friendships that grew strong and beautiful because of the care with which they were tended? Or the slipping-down life in which no handholds could be found because none were ever constructed?
Spiritual Immodesty: A Beginning
Begin your soul-search early and be constant in your endeavor to strip bare the naked truth of life; of your life. It will become a labor of love if you are faithful to the task. None will be more worthwhile or valuable in your life, and none more natural in living your life once you accept this premise. Whether you seek the gates of heaven or hope for the peace of an everlasting narcosis, the one thing that will elevate your life from mere existence to a thing of beauty is giving it a distinguishable form.
