Question marks

So much of life is looking for answers. We need some answers to shape our perspectives and beliefs. We want some answers so we can connect to those around us and to the world at large. The questions we form, plus those people we choose to seek the answers from, help us define who we are. Unfortunately, we often are not asking the right questions. We ask the 'what' when we should be concerned about the 'why.' We are waiting for the 'how' when we don't yet understand the 'who.' We look for the 'when' and miss the 'where.'

I think there are a few reasons that cause us to mis-ask. Often it is because we simply have not given enough thought to what we want or need to know. The flip side of that is that we already know the answer and do not like it. 

The questions we ask others, and the answers we provide to those asked of us, are a normal part of social interaction that keep societies and relationships growing and maturing. When we ask the wrong - or just the not quite right - question, we can be testing the waters to see where the other person stands. 

In our busy lives we want simple, so we ask closed questions, those that require a 'yes' or 'no,' that imply a right or wrong answer. We ask simple questions because we have learned those are easier to answer, but, as we age, we realize that so much of life is in the grey zone, not in the definitive.

More than at any other time in my memory, we are collectively waiting for answers to some very important questions that impact key aspects of our lives individually and as a people. Perhaps if we are all asking the same question, it might help bridge some of the gaps we feel. I'm proposing that at least an appropriate, if not the right question, is "What am I going to do today to make the world a better place?" You and I may differ on the desired goal or on the steps to get there, but instead of asking and answering questions we might actually have a dialogue.

Marilyn