Descartes came up with a famously succinct statement in response to this timeless question: “I think, therefore I am.” (In Latin, Cogito ergo sum) If I am here contemplating this question, it means I am alive and thinking. If I am alive and thinking, then it follows that I must indeed be here. Whew! Glad that’s settled.

Of course, it isn’t really settled. You could spend a long time thinking about that, and I invite you to do so. For now, let's go back to Socrates.

Picture this odd-looking guy wandering around Athens in a shabby cloak and barefoot. In all places, at all times, in everything he does, he is grabbing every opportunity in his daily life to ask questions.

He doesn’t ask easy questions. He asks hard ones, probing ones, ones that maybe even piss you off. As he used to say about himself, “I am utterly disturbing and I create only perplexity.” Hmm. I think we all know people like that. The thing is, we rarely think of them as philosophers. Perhaps we SHOULD.

Socrates’ purpose was to question his peers so that they would question themselves, their ideas, their choices, their very way of life. He liked to stir things up, but his intentions were pure. He looked upon himself as a midwife, helping people give birth to their own truths, their inner possibilities. And, like childbirth, that process could be messy and painful. He could put people in a foul mood. He understood implicitly that value of asking questions is not in finding answers, but in revealing ourselves.

We can learn a lot about ourselves and our own life philosophies by asking ourselves this: What are my Angus issues? What thoughts have I attached myself to? When did I last spend time rethinking these issues?

Let’s use ol’ Cartesian method here, starting with simple ideas and moving toward more complex ones.

Start small. Look at an opinion you have, like “I hate country music.” Hmm. Okay. Is that ALL country music? Is that ALL country singers? Is there not a single country song or artist that I like? What would it be like if I didn’t have that opinion? What would it be like if I had OPPOSITE opinion? Would my friends laugh at me? Would I have to hide my CD collection? Would I start wearing cowboy boots? What really bothers me about country music? Why do I get so riled up, anyway?

Examine differences between ideas and habits. Perhaps you are more attached to one than other. In country music example, how much of your opinion is based on your idea (“I hate it, so I never listen to it.”) and how much on your habit (“I never listen to it, so that means I hate it.”)?

After you’ve tackled some little Angus issues, move on to bigger ones. Let’s say you don’t believe in life after death. You think that once you die, it’s all over. No spirit, no heaven, no soul, no nothing. On what have you based this notion? When is last time you revisited this idea? What would it be like if you didn’t have that belief? What would it be like if you strongly embraced OPPOSITE concept?

Your goal: to become aware of thoughts shaping your daily life, and to begin questioning them. It might be disturbing. It might be invigorating. I hope it’ll get you thinking.

We need more thinkers on this planet!

People do not always want help. They do not always want to feel of impact you may provide, no matter how good or well intended it might be. The trouble is that once you have launched yourself in this way, you cannot retract it. Like it or not an impact will occur, all that you can do is attempt to lessen it. So how do you go about lessening impact you are making on someone's life? There you are, already launched. How are you going to restrain impact?

I recall watching a film a while ago, in which some overeager person hit a missile launch button. The missile was enroute to target when it was realized that it was a mistake! What's more, self-destruct button failed to initialise onboard sequence. They had two choices left open to them - evacuate or use another missile to destroy first that was launched manually from an aircraft.

So what are your options if your "missile" has been launched and you want to avoid impact or at least lessen it? They are as follows:

1.Send an auto-destruct sequence - can you say or do something that will stop "missile" in its tracks and thus prevent any impact?

2.Manually destroy "missile" -Can you say or do anything that will cause any previous situation to be totally dissipated or deflected out of harms way?

3.Lesson impact - What can you say or do that although will not prevent impact, so that it will cause least amount of damage possible?

4.Evacuate area of impact - Can you move target so that although they are aware and damage may be done, lives are salvaged?

Personal impact is not all bad though. Notice how ripple of impact in fluid (and even in some examples of solid impact), does not change matter itself but simply form matter takes and direction it takes. Ripples in liquid, form circular ridges flowing outward, in line with strength of impact. In people's lives, we often cause ripples that do not change character themselves necessarily, but do affect their direction and strength. An important factor to understand here is that such affects may be for good or bad. We all need to offload our cares and trials from time to time, and when we do this, it makes us feel good. We feel so much lighter for doing so. Our problem or concerns may not be solved, but somehow we just feel better for doing so. It is good to have friends who can share our burdens. It is important though to remember that our friends too will have their own concerns. What's more your problems will be a concern to them simply because they are your friends! Oh dear! Does this mean that we should not really be burdening our friends with issues in our lives? No not all. What it means is that we all need buffer zones. We, if you like, make ourselves targets for points of impact for each other.

Impact upon lives of others exists as natural fact. How we deal with impacts when they occur is softened by simple task of listening to each other. Being listening ear - providing shoulder can sometimes be all that is required. You may not be a "professional" in dealing with problems of others, but one thing you can be - one thing that really lessens impact of less thinking people upon people you know - you can be their friend - their true friend. Your impact then really does change people's lives. It changes them for better. Go and be a friend, play a part in their "circles of destiny".