I don’t know about you, but my kids ask questions all the time. ALL.THE.TIME.
They’re curious, and they feel no inclination to hold them inside. It never occurs to them that they should simply accept what’s stated to be fact. Or accept what’s in front of them and assume it’s all there is.
They ask questions about the world and how they fit into it. And then they ask follow-up questions to make sure the logic is sound, and they’ve exhausted all possibilities and options.
When did we lose that curiosity? When did we stop looking for answers?
A few years ago, I was at a training for the network marketing company I work with, and we were talking about objections and answering questions. One of the trainers said, “Questions are good! It means the person you’re talking to is listening and thinking and still engaged in the conversation.” She was referring to people interested in products or a business opportunity, but I immediately saw my kids’ faces and then the faces of so many women I know.
My kids ask questions because they’re engaged and interested and thinking about the world they’re part of. As adults, as women, why don’t we ask questions like that? Why don’t we question EVERYTHING?
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why?
When we’re younger, everything needs an explanation. We accept nothing at face value and want to know WHY…
Why?
Who said?
What if?
What about?
As we get older and the questions get a little more complicated, we get a little more exhausted, and so many of us assume and accept. Assume that this is simply what this next stage of life is supposed to be and accept what we’re given and where we are in life.
What if we approached each new stage with the expectation that we’d have as many questions as a 5-year-old watching Wall-e for the first time? What if we didn’t accept whatever was put in front of us but instead questioned it to make sure it’s what we’d actually ordered? What if, just like at Starbucks, there are secret “off-menu” options that you have to know to ask for, that you only stumble upon by staying curious? Forget the actual menu you see in front of you – ask the questions and make sure your drink (the coffee house metaphor for life) is what you want and what you need!
