Integration 3
Aristotle says that an unexamined life is not worth living. While this saying has been used so much that it nears becoming a platitude, it holds true: if we do not think about the point of our life and the directions it is going, and the choices we make, then we cannot have meaning in our lives. I try to ask myself this very question every day. In my life, I hope to be able to do what is right, to grow and learn so that I find myself in a place and state that I ought to be in. If I live this way, I can be content to die knowing I have lived well.

“And the more facts come streaming in on us, the less time we have to process any one of them.” This quote from week one illustrates the great struggle of the modern era. Instead of thinking about why we do things, or how we do them, or seek the good, we often are more concerned with the what of things. Although seeking to learn facts about any topic is generally a noble pursuit, if we prioritize this over a sense of framework and a sense of our proper place within the cosmos, we will become overwhelmed and led astray. Unless we have a solid perspective from which to view and process facts, we will be lost among them, and life will become too complex and confusing.

“Those chosen represent a truly outstanding group of young Notre Dame graduates who continue to make a difference in their faith, service, learning, and work, serving as inspiring role models to a rising generation of soon-to-be Notre Dame graduates.” This quote is from the explanation of who is awarded the domer dozen honor. This stuck with me because coming into Notre Dame, I was told of Fr. Sorin’s vision, that Notre Dame would be a great force for good in the world. In this description of the honorees, and by looking at what they did, I am inspired to be like them, to go out in the world and do good in it, in whatever area I am called to. The second half of the quote directly addresses this, saying that the purpose of the dozen is to inspire undergraduates. I think it certainly does, as it provides concrete examples of good in the world.

When we see the achievements and accomplishments of those of others, in both the past and present, we are inspired to be like them. As a child I used to watch great sports players do phenomenal things on the television screen and I would go in the backyards afterward and try to imitate them. They inspired me by their great feats to be like them. Similarly, when I read of great warriors or generals from history I would desire to gain their fighting prowess or their tactical acumen. In both these instances, it was the example of others that inspired me to better myself, and live a great life.


“Is this a source of joy?” This question from Fr. Himes’s questions stood out to me because if something you
 you are spending your life doing is not a source of joy to you, then something is wrong. 
The problem lies either in you or the thing you are doing. If the thing you are doing is not 
something you are meant to do, you will naturally not enjoy it, as you are not fulfilling your
 purpose. Another problem could be how you are going about what you are doing. If you 
change your attitude towards what you are doing can also decide on what brings you joy. 

When making important life changing decisions, it is important to consider what you value 
and what you are called to be. Without knowing what is important to you, you cannot
make any kind of informed decision about your life or go in a direction worth going. 
Further, if you do not understand the place you ought to be in in the universe then you cannot 
find happiness and contentment.  You must seek to find what God calls you to, and 
constantly ask yourself if you are where you ought to be. Asking these questions will 
help you to live a good life.

“Much as we present it with arrows from one step to the next, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s not always linear; these steps don’t take place in a nice, neat order.” This quote stood out to me because some people think or act like in your life things will go very smoothly and your next steps will always be very clear. This way of thinking is not wise in my opinion, because the future is not within our control or knowledge. We never know what may happen, or how we may change as life goes on. The idea that your future will be stable and predictable is a flawed one, as we can never predict changing variables. It is important to be open for options and opportunities, and to be versatile in pursuit of truth.

To live a good life, you must be seeking to find fulfillment and good. You must seek to find the place you ought to be in. Also you must prepare yourself to die well. If you die and you are not ready, and you do not die well, your life is not brought to completion in a good way. You must live your life in a way which you ought, finding your place in the universe and operating within it. Fulfillment is found when you seek the good and seek to better yourself and help those around you better themselves. 

For the week 5 assignment, I talked to a friend from my highschool. I had gone to a new highschool my senior year, and he was someone I was able to quickly make a deep connection with. When I asked him what he thought I valued and desired and life the answer came fairly quickly. He said it was pretty clear that I cared about my family, about my friends, about my faith, about God, about my studies, and of course, about soccer. He also said one thing he really liked about me is that if I cared about something I would really throw myself into the thick of it. When I asked him when he had seen me “In the zone” he said that sometimes he could kind of see it just at certain times when I would entertain the class with various tomfoolery, and especially saw it when I played soccer. When I asked him what I wanted to change in the world, we had a sort of sidebar about poetry. Both of us write it occasionally, and both of us believe that art in general is very much capable of changing the world. Also in general we talked about how fighting the good fight in the community you are in every day was very important. When I asked him the final question, what something that would be hard for me to hear was, he said that I was very skinny, and we laughed together. These things, though, all joking aside, were things for which I want to be remembered.

“This means that the act of thinking about ourselves isn’t necessarily correlated with knowing ourselves.” This quote from the Tasha Eurich article really stuck with me because it latches on to an idea we have really lost sight of in our modern world, and that is crucial to living a good life. As the article pointed out, when practicing self reflection, many were more focused on thinking about themselves than getting to know ourselves. Self knowledge is the definition of humility. This quote helps us see why.When we merely think about ourselves, we can obsess over ourselves, making ourselves the center of our view and leading to our perception being led astray. Instead we must acknowledge that we do not know everything about ourselves, and seek to learn, and seek to uncover truth, rather than assigning characteristics.

The thing that immediately comes to my mind in response to this question is the example of papers, since I have to deal with them right now, as a college student. Papers are a hardship, they take effort and work to complete. They become worthwhile and useful, however when approached the right way. They could stop me from living well by making me sad and stressing me out to the point where I cannot enjoy my life and influencing my outlook entirely, or they could help me by my use of them to grow and to reach achievement. Hardship will always exist in life, and it is important to be prepared for it and go into it trusting that God has put it there so that you may grow, and not as some crushing force. I hope to come through it, and be remembered as having pushed through and overcame hardship.

““We are the guys who hate those guys” is the self defining assertion of every gang.’
Regardless of how true this is about gangs, this quote from the week seven readings brings up an important element about human nature. When we define ourselves by others, for example, those with whom we struggle and contend, there is no room for growth and progress. Our end is then not constructive but destructive, instead of trying to preserve something or expand or build something, we rather oppose everything someone else is doing and seek to destroy it. By concerning ourselves with someone else’s growth, we neglect our own, and so cannot move forward. Besides closing each other off from helping each other, this focus hurts one’s own outlook and position.

Relationships with others should be good in order to achieve a life well lived. Part of the measure of how you live is how you interact and impact other people. Therefore it is important to build good relationships and impact the people in those relationships well. Many people who are considered to have lived good lives leave great marks on those around them. They all have stories about how their encounters with them were on some sort of different level, some out of the ordinary impact that they had on them. As iron sharpens iron, good people help other good people become better.
I hope to be remembered for all the qualities I have expounded in this paper.I want to live the good life, to live a well ordered, good and virtuous life, both for its own sake and to help others.