The questions we ask shape the lives we lead

The nature of the questions I ask of life can condition the answers I receive, and these may often reinforce beliefs I already hold. If I care to look, the questions of others are often far more illuminating in areas I did not think to explore.

To ask questions of our environment, our safety and ourselves is fundamental to us: it kept us alive in the wild, and it is what we have to do constantly in order to make daily and life decisions.

Exploring different paths

The decisions we take and the choices we make are conditioned by the questions we pose about our lives. That is why I find it a useful and sometimes challenging exercise to abandon my line of search and follow a thread someone else puts forward.

This may often make me feel uncomfortable simply because I am taken out of my normal channels of thought. In fact, the more uncomfortable it becomes, the greater the rewards can be. If only to confirm that I am on the right track, or to discount a particular route, at least I have travelled that way for a short while, and explored new possibilities.

Finding a way out of the maze

There is always a way out of the maze: it is sometimes helpful simply to come to a problem or challenge from a slightly different direction in order to get a stalled situation on the move once again.

While true and lasting change may not come easily, the journey can be exhilarating and liberating once the shackles of our own conventions have been shed.