Do you ask questions to yourself often? & I’m talking about more profound questions then what you’re going to wear today. Do you ask questions that matter in your life?
Have you ever stopped to consider whether you should ask more questions or take a life situation at face value?
I get it. There isn’t time in a day to play the adult version of the Toddler “why?” game, but sometimes digging a bit deeper into a situation is the right thing to do.
Insert Illustration from my childhood.
It all started with a pair of knock off Bugs Bunny Keds. If you were a child of the 80s, you know what I’m talking about. If not, no worries, I’ll explain it.
Keds were a trendy pair of shoes to wear in the late 90s. If you were the coolest of the cool kids, you owned a pair of real Keds that had some Character (like Bugs Bunny) silk-screened on the side of them. If you were an average kid, your mom bought you the knock off version from Payless Shoe Source.
She had the knock off version. It was the first thing I noticed. I’m not even going to lie about my shallowness in high school.
The thoughts in my head were all about how could you wear the knock off version. Didn’t she know they just don’t look the same? Didn’t she know they made your feet look fat? I mean, Keds were cool because then made your feet look narrow.
Who would actually be her friend?
The importance of asking questions
Well, truth be told. I actually became her friend. One of her closest friends for life as a matter of fact. This girl has seen me through marriage, divorce, marriage (again), & the birth of 3 kids. She is one of my “ride or die” friends.
The thing is somehow, in our first few interactions, I managed to look past her knock off Keds to ask the right questions to get to know her for her. I was able to look past the shoes & find that she was a fantastic person inside despite her horrific fashion sense (For all you fashionistas out there, She still has no fashion sense. I feel you.)
I choose to ask questions to double-check whether my gut was just pointing in the wrong direction & it paid off in a big jackpot.
A Similar Friendship
I just read a story with a similar start. It was the friendship between Paul & Barnabas. You see, Paul was a bully in his younger years. & though he had changed, his reputation still haunted him.
His old reputation was so bad that people either wanted to kill him or didn’t believe a word he said.
Everyone except Barnabas that was. Barnabas took the time to ask questions.
He asked the right questions & turns out Paul really had a story to share, & so the friendship began.
Acts 9:27 – But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to Him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus
Paul and Barnabas spend many years traveling everywhere as BFFs. I’m sure they had even more stories & more laughs than I could ever imagine.
But what if Barnabas made a different choice. What if he chose not to ask questions? The world just wouldn’t be the same. Paul & Barnabas were a fantastic duo & together, they created a strong following of early day Christians.
What’s in it for you?
So, what am I trying to say here?
Don’t be afraid to ask questions in your life. Don’t let life overwhelm you so much that you can’t snap out of your AutoPilot brain to double-check the choices you are making are the right one.
Sometimes amazing results can come from you digging a bit & not just going with your first impressions.
Be deeper & Be Better.
Comments