The Questions Within Us

Questions. It’s as if they come with us inherently when we are born. Who? Why? When? How? The world seems confounding to us when we are children. Fact is, it stays a conundrum our entire life. We all travel through the journey of questions from “mommy what does that do” to “What did I do in my life?”

The questions remain the same throughout, only the answers change at every stage. The answers change because our perceptions and needs morph. “Why is that the way it is”, asks a child to her mother, looking at a green colored slide in a playground. The mother lodges the child on top of the slide. The child looks at her mother, confused and scared at the same time. Her mother holds her hand and gently pushes her so that the she comes sliding down. She realizes suddenly what this big green colored thing is, but is still not sure how it works. The mother repeats the process two three times. The child now understands the mechanism and the fourth time she doesn’t need the gentle push from her mother. Off she goes, happy and contended after getting apprised with her answer. When she is all grown up, she asks the same question “Why is that the way it is” to herself, after contemplating about her life. She never gets a satisfied answer.

At a certain stage in life, when our mind is fully developed to understand the trivial things around us, we struggle with our emotions and hope for the answers to be as easy and pellucid as learning how to slide. “What do I want to do in my life”, “Where am I headed to?”, “Does he like me the same way I like him?”, “How can I tell her I love her so much”, “How do I say I’m sorry?”, “How can I be strong when everything around me is crumbling?”.. and the most dreadful question.. “Why am I not happy?”

Sometimes we wish for our mommy or daddy to just hold our hand and help us surpass this hurdle as well. But Alas! It doesn’t work that way. Our elders faced these questions, now we have to, and that is how we grow. Our parents helped us understand the little concepts of life, leaving up to us on how we want to live it.

So it’s time to be confident, to look at the questions in the eye, and find answers. To understand what you like, what you are. Life is not that hard once you figure how you are wired! It’s time not to change according to others, but to create paths according to yourself, on which you want to travel. “Why can’t I be skinny the way she is?” You are plump. Deal with it. You are special and precious in our own way. Find out what makes you unique, I’m sure some guy would love you for who you are. “I want to leave my job, try something new, but I’m afraid I will not succeed. What should I do?”. The answer is simple, take risks. Do what your heart says. If you would not do it today, you may regret it for the rest of your life. Come out of your comfort zone. Live. Live each and every moment for yourself.

Some people waste a life time looking for answers. Stop wasting your precious life. You were born for a purpose, find that purpose and live it. Get your questions answered and move on. You might have faced that situation when you were in a class and you had that huge urge to ask a question to your teacher, but you stopped, thinking that it’s lame. You ran away. You were not strong enough to face your fears, and now that question stays with you forever, unanswered. Life is the same. It would force you to ask questions. And I’m sure all of us have a number of those in our head right now. We could either pick one question at a time and get through with it, or we can ignore them now and live with them for eternity. So, what are you going to do?

K.A.