Science fiction fans may recognize the questions leading to this page as coming from Babylon 5 (a show I loved, until the annoying 5th season), and the above quote as coming from Star Wars (Ep. 5), but this part of Sarah-land isn't about shows, it's about you! Perhaps we can each create our own destiny, at least to some degree. I think Socrates was going a little far when he said "The unexamined life is not worth living", but often, a little self-examination CAN help one to live well. I will point out that this CAN be fun: the Emode web site has a lot of fun self-tests, including "Are You High-Maintenance", and "Are You Sure You're You"?
More seriously, Who are you? What do you want?
These questions come from different directions, but taken together, honestly, they
can reveal a great deal to you about yourself, and save a lot of time straying down
paths not your own (though explorations can have their own rewards). It's possible to
simply luck into what's right for us, but I think it's all too easy to get distracted,
either with external matters such as TV shows, or internally (I've spent a lot of time
torturing myself with doubts about what I "should" be doing, a combination of reacting
to internalized expectations and a high degree of second-guessing myself). Sometimes
it's hard to get started answering these questions at anything but a glib level,
though, so I'm putting together a list of web sites and other resources for
self-evaluation. If you know of any good ones, send 'em my way and I'll be happy to
add them here!