13 Dec 2010

Life, Love and at least 21 Questions.

I'm usually not a list-making type of person, but every once and a while, when my life is at its most chaotic, I get a burst of that particular type of energy that makes me want to sort out stuff. And make lists.

Today has been one of those days.

After half a day of redecorating my hidey-hole / writer's den (pictures coming soon) and a few hours of overdue reading, there was a little energy left for something I'd been thinking about for a while but never really got round to doing: compiling a list of questions I want to ask myself on a regular basis.

And as with all questions, their real value lies in the answers we come up with. And the insights and changes that sprout and grow from there.

Anyway, here's my list:
  1. What is the craziest thing I've done so far? How crazy is it?
  2. Am I a nice person?
  3. Who are the people I consider most important in my life? How much (quality) time do I actually spend with them?
  4. How do I think people will remember me when I die? How would I want to be remembered?
  5. Have I been the kind of friend I'd want to have as a friend?
  6. Have I made a real difference in anyone's life?
  7. Am I being a good friend to myself? Taking care of my body, heart, mind, soul or whatever part of me I consider important?
  8. When's the last time my heart was beating fast out of excitement?
  9. If I didn't know my own age, how old would I think I was?
  10. If I were a superhero, what would my superpower be?
  11. If I only had 3 more months to live, would I continue doing what I'm doing now?
  12. Most of the time, when I wake up, do I feel like what I'm going to do that day matters?
  13. Which are my most treasured skills? In how far am I using them to make a living?
  14. What is my biggest fear?
  15. Am I holding any grudges?
  16. How much do I like my home? The village/town/city/country where I live?
  17. What would my dream holiday look like? In what way is it different from my current daily life?
  18. Am I spending most of my thoughts on the past, the present or the future?
  19. Who are the people I'm surrounding myself with? What does that tell about me?
  20. How far would I go to save the life of someone I love?
  21. What am I most grateful for?
And as a nice surprise: going through my list made me feel quite good about my life. There's still plenty of room for improvement, but I'm happy where I am now. I'm grateful for the people in my life, for the luck, the good decisions ànd the not-so-good ones. They have possibly taught me more than anything else.
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4 comments:

  1. Are all the questions of equal weight when adding them up for a "total score"?

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  2. Good questions. At first I would think those are questions a lot of people are "struggling" with, but then again I forget that a lot of people actually never question themselves. And then there is a question I often think of: are they on average happier without questions going beyond the purely material?

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  3. @Jerom I think that would depend on who's asking/answering them :-)

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  4. @Veerle I think many of these appear in different forms. Like the classic: 'if you'd win the lottery, would you still go to work the next day?' comes up in so many different environments with very different people, and it's basically just a variation on a few of the questions above.

    I'm assuming there are more fundamental differences between the answers people come up with than in the questions that are being asked.

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