Lately I have had so many folks ask a question and then when I give them the answer they reply “I wasn’t going to ask but I'm so glad I did.” These questions range from factual to opinion and it had me wondering why are we all so hesitant to ask questions. I myself have trouble questioning and end up making up answers in my head instead of speaking.
I grew up in an era where it was common for parents to reply “because I said so” without any thought of explanation. Now that I am a parent myself I have discovered how idiotic of a principal that is in active child rearing. Imagine you are a five year old child who just learned how to use language and all of a sudden you can formulate questions only to be shot down in response.
Since when is questioning a bad thing. Maybe it was the anarchy era that spoiled it for all of us. It was the defiant rebellious attitude that put a bad taste in the authority's mouth. In response all questioning was shut down out of fear. Fear of what? Enlightenment? Being Wrong? Who is to say? But in 2024 it seems they were successful in so many ways.
Questioning should be common place. How else are we to discover why the birds sing, how our food is produced and how our social conventions were formed. Questions and Answers bring nourishment and beauty to our lives. How exciting it is to seek and then to find!
I have been making it a point in my life to not only ask questions but also encourage them! Prioritizing gratitude in a simple “thank you for asking me” could be the start of simple empowerment. Questions can be so impactful with the right heart. I think that’s the key takeaway here. When we ask questions out of innocent intrigue and no other motive we can have genuine conversations that result in understanding or at least empathy for each other. We are all so very different, so culturally dynamic! Imagine how much more fascinating our narrow world can be when we open it up to new answers!
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