A Life Worth Living

Gifford Volunteer Chaplain Kathy Rohloff shares her personal reflections in this blog post. Kathy and all of our volunteer chaplains offer a nonsectarian presence. If you need someone to listen, and hear you with compassion, you can reach them by calling the Rev. Tim Eberhardt at 802-728-2107.

By Kathy Rohloff

Socrates, a Greek philosopher who lived from 470-399BC, is credited with this quote: ”An unexamined life is not worth living.”

At the start of each New Year, we are encouraged to make a list of resolutions.  We start writing down those habits we need to conquer, the weight we need to lose, and/or the goals we want to set.

Somewhere in mid-February, we are all overcome by the guilt we experience because once again we have failed to keep those promises made to ourselves.

We need to rethink the timing of when we begin to make better choices. Maybe the time is when we are in the middle of a situation. It would be even better if careful thought preceded these life choices.

We all live and react from a set of beliefs. These have been instilled in us from birth and solidified due to our life experiences. We are formed throughout our lives by the people, events, and experiences that make up our days. Although some of us have had relatively easy lives, many of us have not.

The truth is that bad habits may form early, and once formed it could be a constant battle to control them throughout our lives. These can be as simple as poor food choices, foul language, or dad jokes. On the other hand, they can be soul-sucking and result in addiction, abuse, and dishonesty.

None of these have to be permanent. All of them require an effort on our part to change.

But there comes a time in every life when we decide, “I am going to live!”  This is a direct result of self-examination.

We no longer choose to view life through a lens of wrongs done, hurt feelings, or an inability to change.

Who will we have to leave behind? What can we do to make our lives different? When do we begin? Where will we need to go to get help? Why do we make these choices?

Once we have the answers, we can then set our feet on a path and begin the hard and constant work of changing patterns in our thinking and living. We will no longer be imprisoned by bad choices. We will see clearly how we are to live and walk.

This does not happen overnight, but will require a day to day decision to be better than we were before.

Forgive.

Move on.

Repeat.

We do not have to carry forward judgment and anger or fear and anxiety.

We can choose a life worth living.