Thursday, February 11, 2010

Why a better Question? I liked the one I already had.

I think we all ask ourselves questions everyday, every moment. I would suggest that the questions that we ask ourselves lead to the kind of life we will live every day.
Whenever life seems empty and shallow I start to become aware of the questions I'm asking myself. When life seems empty, I usually realize that I have been asking the question, "What do I need to do to feel better?" The good thing about this question is that the answer is mostly instinctual and unconscious. No effort needed at all to answer this. I feel bored, I should watch a movie. I feel sad, I should do something to make me happy. I feel hungry, I should eat. I feel angry, I should take it out on the people closest to me. The downside of this question is that you will just be reacting to everything, and your life will never really become about something deeper. The answer to this question is really uncreative and leaves an empty feeling when the answer has been excecuted.
What do I need to feel better, isn't the kind of life I want to live. It's totally self centered. When I realize that, that is the question I'm asking, I insert the "Why" Question. "Why do I feel empty? Why do I feel sad? Why do I feel happy? Why do I feel like I should feel better?" Why why why why? I just let out a barrage of why questions. Why? because why gets at my motivations, Why isn't knee jerk reaction, Why isn't unconscious and instinctual. Why, jerks you into reality with a whiplash. You will start to see how empty your motivations for living have been, the selfishness that permeates most of your relationships, and the jealousy you have for others who live with the why question and tackle it everyday intentionally. Why gets us to a deeper mode of living.
At first it's hard to ask why. You'll find yourself not even know what to ask why about. But the more you do it, the better you will get at uncovering the motivations you've had in the past few days and figure out a new set of motivations to live from. When I first started asking "why" it would take me 10 minutes of laborious thinking to get to a decision about something. Now it just takes a minute or two. This is a great trade off, I find myself doing more and more things that matter to me, and less things that just "get me through the day." I feel more alive. More like the person I'm supposed to be.

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