Rethinking Introspection

The Search for Truth

The temptations that adolescents (and everyone else) face can reveal their truest desires. Powerful, honest longings are often concealed deep within their hearts like treasures hidden in darkness. They can tell them about their place and purpose in this world if only they will have the patience to delay their urges to seek immediate gratification. Too often, sincere desires are momentarily placated by temporal things and pushed just below the surface of consciousness. Yet, if you can teach students to resist temptation or at least fight it long enough to ask some tough questions, progress can be made toward uncovering the real person. Some questions that will help encourage introspection include:

• What am I really looking for in this place?
• What do I hope will happen if I do this thing?
• What is missing in my life that I wish were here now?
• What do I fear will happen if I decide not to do this thing?

Rethinking Myth & Story II

What can story teach us about this dilemma? Through the recent production of three prequel episodes—The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith—a new generation is discovering the magic and wonder of Star Wars, a movie saga that began in 1977. Let’s take a closer look at that original episode, A New Hope, and mine it for wisdom that might pertain to the matter at hand.

Luke Skywalker, a boy in his late teens, is living with his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru on a desert planet known as Tatooine. Here Luke has struggled with his life as a farmer, isolated from the action and excitement he so desperately craves. He secretly fears that he will become like his Uncle Owen, a man who has buried his desires and longings for life and adventure under a pile of duty, obligations, and drudgery.

Owen has settled for something less in life. Most students, if you really get a chance to know them, carry this secret fear with them as well. It is the fear that they will become like their parents—reality as seen through the eyes of an adolescent—and settle for a life of crunching numbers and balancing the checkbook.