6 Questions I’ve Asked Myself Lately

Good questions are powerful.

Photo by Analia Baggiano on Unsplash

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I think question-asking is a love language for many people. Do you like questions?

I love questions. A good question can get at the heart of a matter and change perspective. For example, a gigantic shift happened for me when I stopped asking the question, “What do I want this XYZ to look like?” and starting asking the question, “What do I want this XYZ to feel like?” Same is true when I stopped asking, “Can I let XYZ go?” (the answer for me is almost always no, no way, not-ever, I will never let it go) and started asking, “Can I let this be?” (Almost always, sure, I’ve got time to wait, SINCE I’M CERTAINLY NOT LETTING IT GO). Good questions are powerful. They change how you understand the world and your actions within it.

The following questions haven’t changed my life but they are six questions on my mind that I often ask myself that tend to get at the heart of the matter.

1. What was my very first, first day? This one is just for fun. I got to watch my daughter do first days twice in one year and it got me remembering some of my very first, first days.

2. What do I do with guilt? Mine moves me to action. I recently learned some people do nothing. It’s not motivating and it just eats them alive. I have a lot of questions about that.

3. How am I paying attention? I document with words, writing, photos, meditation. By asking questions, too, and through conversation and sharing.

4. What ways can I be with people? Quietly? Helpfully? Imperfectly? With humor? With wine? Awkwardly? Stupidly? All is better than peformatively, or absently.

5. What is the context? It will guide my understanding/ answer/ response. Full stop.

6. How can I make this less bad? I’m talking by degree. I know we can’t always make things right or good but we don’t have to settle for a terrible status quo.

What questions are on your mind lately? Has a question ever guided you or served you in a helpful way? Has asking a different, better question ever changed the dynamic of a problem?