‘Ask better questions‘ is a precept I like to think that I live by.
On that note, I came across this list of ‘18 thought provoking questions that will free your mind‘ by Mark Chernoff.
Naive though that sounds, I did find some of the questions making me uncomfortable (which must be a good thing). So here is taking a shot at them, under a time limit, to ensure I do not fake a ‘sounds-better’ response. Also I think I’d like to revisit this oft to see how my responses vary and where my moral compass points to, over time
- In one sentence, who are you? [Yesterday I came across this hard-hitting note – “In 1962, Clare Boothe Luce, on of the first women to serve in the U.S. Congress, offered some advice to President John F. Kennedy. ‘A great man,’ she told him, ‘is one sentence.’ Abraham Lincoln’s sentence was: ‘He preserved the union and freed the slaves.’] – “I am a lifelong learner and I want to use knowledge to make a difference to my life and to the lives of those around me”
- In one word, what do you live for? – Passion
- What is worth the pain? – Knowing that you will come out a better person at the end of it.
- What will you never give up on? – Integrity
- What do you always try to avoid? – Altercations, even if at times, it may be required to be in disagreement.
- What’s is something that you take for granted every day? – That the family would stand by me. Rock steady. At all times.
- What do you need most right now? – Kindness to myself. Patience towards others.
- What would you immediately do differently if you knew no one would judge you? – Try new stuff – such as modeling, maybe
- What is something nobody could ever steal from you? Memories – real and made-up.
- Who would you like to forgive right now? My younger self – I am quite harsh on how I judge my 20 year old self in having taken the decisions that she did.
- Happiness is not? White Sugar
- What impact do you want to leave on the people you love? That I tried.
- Life is too short to tolerate? Gas lighting
- What is something that used to scare you, but no longer does? Approaching strangers and exploring strange new ideas
- What do you want to remember forever? My dad’s look of pride
- What do you always look forward to? A good book and better conversations
- What recently reminded you of how fast the time flies? Aging school friends
- What’s something everyone should be able to say before they die? I didn’t regret that
I think I’d leave this here to remind myself the next time I take this the next year.
I’ve been making a list of the things they don’t teach you at school.
They don’t teach you how to love somebody.
They don’t teach you how to be famous.
They don’t teach you how to be rich or how to be poor.
They don’t teach you how to walk away from someone you don’t love any longer.
They don’t teach you how to know what’s going on in someone else’s mind.
They don’t teach you what to say to someone who’s dying.
They don’t teach you anything worth knowing
Neil Gaiman, The Kindly Ones
