One who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; one who does not ask a question remains a fool forever” [Chinese Proverb].
I have questions. Lots of questions. Just ask my husband or my friends or my family. I want to know how things work, why things are, and what would happen if we made a change or thought about things differently.
Imagine my delight when an unexpected package from Amazon.com showed up on my doorstep the other day. My friend, who celebrates my crazy need for information, had sent me the book, The Whatchamacallit: Those everyday objects you just can’t name (and things you think you know about but don’t).
So incredibly cool, all this brand new information to devour. The fun was that the authors had provided me with tons of answers for questions I hadn’t even thought to ask. I now know:
- Philtrum is the groove that runs between your nose and your mouth.
- Aglet is that little piece of plastic closing the end of a shoelace.
- Contrail is that long thin trail left behind by a jet airliner.
- Phloem bundles are those stringy bits on a banana.
Sometimes my curiosity can get me in trouble; I’m well aware of the implications associated with the proverb, Curiosity killed the cat. While my questions spring from a desire to learn more and an attempt to understand, at times they are perceived as some sort of challenge or indication that I am attempting to uncover a problem. Sadly, self-preservation causes me to temper my curiosity at times.
“To be on a quest is nothing more or less than to become an asker of questions” [Sam Keen].
To me, questions aren’t something to slow down the journey, rather they are there to keep things moving along, prompting us to find the answers which propel us to the next level. (Just so you know, the next level brings even more questions. Life is a never-ending treasure hunt for answers.)
Unfortunately, there are people who refuse to take the first step because their mind is cluttered with unanswered questions. To me, that’s as crazy as a student choosing not to enroll in a statistics class, because she doesn’t know how to use a Z table. The purpose of the class is to provide a forum to learn, ask questions, get answers, use the Z Table, and move on. If she allowed the fear of unanswered questions to keep her from enrolling, she would never obtain the information she needed.
“Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer” [Rainer Maria Rilke].
Don’t allow the fear of not knowing how or why keep you from moving toward your destiny. No one has all the answers. “Life is like playing a violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on” [Samuel Butler]. It’s the same for everyone.
Ask for help. Raise your hand. Say you don’t know. Do the research. Talk to people. Find out.
“Curiosity opens possibilities.
It keeps you fresh. And young at heart.
It acknowledges mysteries. And challenges them.
It’s grounded in hope. It validates our existence.
And fans the inner fire.
To be curious is to be optimistic” [Patrick Lindsay].
George Bernard Shaw said,”Some men see things as they are and say, “Why?” I dream of things that never were and say, “Why not?”
So, I have to ask, “Why not? Why not you? Why not now?”
Whatever you are, be a good one!
Deanna
