5 Questions to Ask Yourself Every Evening

It is estimated that some 70,000 separate thoughts hurry through consciousness from the moment we wake up to the time we slip into sleep. To help us understand those thoughts we've produced five questions to direct our minds to areas which we tend to neglect, and from where trouble can most intensely arise when we do so.

FURTHER READING

“Our minds are some of the busiest places in the known universe. It is estimated that, under a deceptively calm exterior, some 70,000 separate thoughts hurry through consciousness from the moment we wake up to the time we slip into sleep – some of these elaborate and sequential, many more fragmentary and sensory by nature.
What these many thoughts have in common is that we seldom do them any kind of justice. The river of ideas and feelings is relentless, turbulent and chaotic. In a typical minute, we might briefly register that we are annoyed with a friend, then our minds are directed to a worry about a tax return, which is then quickly supplanted by the sighting of a raven, which makes us think of our grandmother, who evokes a trip we once took to Greece, which ushers in thoughts of some lip balm we need to purchase, which is then supplanted by a registering of a pain in our left knee, which is succeeded by a memory of a friend we lost touch with after university, which cedes to a recurring reflection on what kind of lamp we might invest in for the living room. And we might here still only be at the thirty second mark of what we casually call ‘thinking’ or just ‘gazing out of the window’…”

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CREDITS

Produced in collaboration with:

Gemma green Hope

Title animation produced in collaboration with

Graeme Probert

[Syco]

This YouTube channel is going on my still lovely list

[alphayash]

5 questions to ask yourself every evening -

1) What am I really worried about?
2) What am I presently sad about?
3)Who has annoyed me and how?
4)What does my body want?
5)What is still lovely?


Thankyou !

[rosie]

There is no clearer evidence of our maturity, than our capacity to explore the way that we and everybody else on the planet are as easily bruised and hurt as we are, as a child.”

[pedrostormrage]

3:16 "Stoicism and strength carry their own dangers" Thanks for saying that. People like throwing stoicism around like it's the ultimate philosophy, but it has downsides too (like emotional suppression/detachment, dismissing real suffering, and ignoring systemic causes of suffering).
Edit: for more in-depth discussions, look up the articles "Stoicism as a Fad and a Philosophy" (by Dr. Iskra Fileva, from Psychology Today), "A Critique of Stoicism" (by Dr. Michael R. Edelstein, from Psychology Today), and "The downsides of Stoicism" (by Jonny Thomson, from Big Think).

[palomawhite]

Watching a School of Life video while eating breakfast is one of the lovely things in my days 😊❤

[silverhand]

1) What am I really worried about?
2) What am I presently sad about?
3) Who has annoyed me and how?
4) What does my body want?
5) What is still lovely?

[boyfmbalcatta]

Great little and appropriate video. As an older person I have always tried to think of theses questions as well .
- what am I tiring to achieve at the moment?
- what would I like to achieve?
- what can I improve upon/do better without going overboard or spending too much money?
- what small action/thing did I do today to help/improve somebody without asking for recompense/recognition?
- try to remember you can't cure all the ills of the world yourself.
- give credit (without criticism) to those who have earned it aproppriate to the action.

[JGalegria]

When you get a cancer diagnosis you don't need to ask what you are really worried about and it's probably better not to dwell overly on what you are sad about, but taking care of your body's needs, nutrition, exercise and rest, and focussing on what is still lovely is definitely good advice! 🙏

[davide]

I don't know how your videos are always on point on what i'm feeling right now. Thank you so much

[StonedNoob]

I’m really thankful for this channel and I hope it never changes. Or gets caught up by capitalistic greed.

[louvega]

Sounds like the foundation for mindfulness and self reflection (or examination, dare I say). Excellent soundbite, thank you SoL.

[deJanPieter]

"But stoicism and strength carry their own dangers" 👍

[krutibhavsar]

This content has an enormous potential to tackle some of the most fundamental and most difficult questions of our bodies, lives, relations, and existence. Thank you, the SoL team.

[WovenPsychology]

If you begin to ask these questions consistently, please prepare yourself. Some of these questions can lead to a deep internal assessment and can bring up dormant emotions. This is not for the faint of heart but for those courageous enough for individuation.

[ritahorvath]

I watched it once
and I will watch it
a couple of more times
the next days.

[MsVorpalBlade]

I don't think I could bear this much emotional introspection every single day

[Kamuibbx]

Thank you for this content people behind this channel.. the world is full of trivial content nowadays, and quality is missing.. so I really appreciate this effort you put here, wether I agree or disagree; it's great.

[HomeFreeinmySUV]

As a long-term believer in the Stoic philosophy...I ask myself these naturally. Stoicism has helped me through much heartache.. I am a highly sensitive creative..and needed a philosophy to withstand the barrage of feelings from just living.. Stoicsm, and questions like these to self examine, have saved my heart and soul...

[azoz]

I just did this and omg. My already daily practice is to think about 3 good things in life and what i am going to accomplish. This video opened a whole other side of the universe with acknowledging the bad, it feels freeing, thank you

[WordsAreYou]

I love you, Alain. I truly do.
Thank you for everything.