Messing With A Maxim

"The unexamined life is not worth living." : Socrates

As someone who spends a fair amount of time in his head, I've lately been questioning the value of adhering to this oft-quoted maxim. How about this? "The unlived life is not worth examining". Isn't it just as important to live fully, a driver in our lives as opposed to a passenger? If we don't approach each day as if it might be our last, what exactly will we examine?

I'm not advocating mindless activity for its own sake. But a comment received on my last post reminded me how self-indulgence (aka excessive examination) can remove me from work waiting to be done with others. My astute reader's observation about helping other people as an antidote to the blues left me chastened. How did this simple but powerful truth temporarily slip my mind? Too much examining and not enough doing, perhaps?

It's unlikely my propensity for introspection will ever completely disappear. But it's high time to begin tossing around those words of Socrates. Which maxims are you messing with at present?