The Five Questions – Part 1 | Life Series

Children are incredibly curious, and their minds are like a clean slate ready to be inscribed. They fearlessly question anything and everything that don’t make sense to them.
Read time: less than 2 min.

Here are some interesting ones that I have come across.

“In the olden days, was everything black and white?”
“Why did swear words get invented if we’re not allowed to say them?”
“What did it feel like on your last day of being a child?”
“What is God?”
“Where did we come from” (no, it’s not what you are thinking)?

and, the one that I have heard often –

“Why do I have to go to school?”

As we grow up, we tend to give up the ability to be curious. Either we proudly believe that we know it all, or there are no more things to know. We take things as they get presented to us and accept them as the permanent ways of life.

Curiosity and the native inclination to know, learn and grow are marked in our DNA, yet, as grown-ups, we fail to ask critical questions that affect our lives. We spend very little time re-evaluating our life journey, forgetting or burying our true calling due to the fear of disappointment, or we wish not to be bothered.

I would like to, through this conversation, rekindle the child-like curiosity in us to allow us to pause, reflect and redirect. These questions won’t make us any more knowledgeable or intelligent, but I believe it will at least make you rethink.

Let’s start:

1. Are you happy?
This is not about the momentary happiness we experience due to favourable changes outside of us. I consider them as variables that come and go depending on the circumstances around us. The answer to this is much more profound. It’s about the constant feeling of being happy inside us, not for what we have, but who we are.

2. What is the most neglected important area in my life right now?
You may be materially abundant, but there may be an aspect of your life that you have neglected for a long time and has been subconsciously gnawing you. Could it be your relationships, health or spirituality?

3. Am I happy with the tradeoffs I am making in my life right now?
Life is full of choice if we are willing to make it. You can strive to get anything, but not everything. There are choices to be made, that implies tradeoffs. Are you content with the tradeoffs you are making in life? For instance, if you intended this weekend to finish the article, you have been thinking for long, but you spent your entire time binge-watching. Are you happy with the choice you are making?

4. If you were forced to work for just one hour per day, what would you work on during that hour?
Life hits us from every direction. Everything seems to be necessary. But if you were to spend only one hour per day, where would you devote yourself?

5. What are the three things that are great in your life?
Think of the most exciting things surrounding your life today.

All five questions are connected. Q1 will help you with self-reflection with Q2 forcing you to look for the areas that have neglected, which may be the reason for your unhappiness. Q3 will get you to rethink the choices you are making, and whether those are getting you closer to the changes you wish to make, Q4 will force you to devote your resources to the one thing that will make all the difference. And Q5 will allow you to pull out the most exciting aspects of your life, and if you can find only one in your first round, then it’s time to redo the questions.

I hope this nudges us to pause, reflect and redirect our thoughts, emotions and actions to move us in the direction we wish to go.

We will continue with another set of questions, including my favourite one next week.

Thank you for sharing some of your precious time with me each week.

Until next week.
Razak
CommonInterest