A Panda's Journey
“Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.”
–Tony Robbins
What does it mean to ask a quality question?
Well, that’s a good question. If you have the answer please write it in the comments! 🙂
Quality questions for you might be different for someone else.
What does a quality life look like for you?
Begin here, and oh the places you’ll go…
“The universe is wider than our views of it.”
— Henry David Thoreau
Some beliefs are good, and some aren’t. How can you know?
If you believe in what you believe because it benefits you the most, then maybe it’s time to begin questioning your beliefs.
And maybe not.
But when you do question yourself or others, here’s a guide from Lao Tzu:
“Trying to understand is like straining through muddy water. Have the patience to wait! Be still and allow the mud to settle.”
“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.”
—Ernest Hemingway
Personally, I’m just thinking about whether to break from writing every day to writing once a week – or something like that.
But in relation to the Hemingway quote, yes, the world breaks us all.
“Life is suffering” said Buddha.
& it’s true. Life hurts. We all go through it. Your pain is valid.
The question is, where will you go from here?
What did you learn from your pain?
What are you still learning from it?
We are never too old to learn something new.
An old dog can learn new tricks.
It’s a matter of patience, persistence, and humility, to name a few, but the list goes on.
The gossip.
The news.
The futile words that don’t get you anywhere.
So then, where should you focus?
Culture wants you to conform.
It wants you to blindly obey.
But you were born to be free.
You were born with a mind to think for yourself.
This is extremely difficult in societies that aggressively attack non-conformists.
“For nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
This choice is yours.
And yes, if you choose to think for yourself you will lose friends. Some family members may disown you. But what you will find in this process is the truth.
You will find genuine support from the few who are living their truths as well.
It is a risk, but it is a risk worth taking, and a risk that might possibly save the world.
“Rest and be kind, you don’t have to prove anything.”
—Jack Kerouac
Those words – rest & be kind, are some of the most important words in the human language.
Rest & be kind.
I’ll leave it there.
“Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course.”
—William Shakespeare
You lost the election.
You bet on the wrong stock.
You missed the game winning field goal.
You fell down face first into a pile of mud.
And it hurt.
It still does sometimes.
But you weren’t meant to remain in pain.
The pain – the adversity, is an opportunity to grow, to learn, to prosper, but in the moments it happens it’s almost impossible to appreciate.
Adversity doesn’t feel good, but it carries within it a gift.
The gift of experience.
“Experience is the teacher of all things.”
—Julius Caesar
The gift may be hidden, but it’s there, waiting for you to find it, open it, & move forward – stronger, wiser, and ready for the next opportunity.
“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer the negative elements in your life, don’t sit at home and think about it. Go out and get busy!”
— Dale Carnegie
Overthinking is one of the root causes of inaction.
The best way to overcome this is to just take action.
If your thoughts & feelings are holding you back from taking right action, it’s time to break on through to the other side.
You do this, like Nike says, by just doing it.
Everyone feels fear.
Everyone worries.
But in this moment, it’s time for right action.
“Nature is pleased with simplicity. And nature is no dummy.”
– Isaac Newton
Nature appears to be meditating all the time. It is still. It doesn’t worry about anything yet it accomplishes its task.
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
– Lao Tzu
We’ve been educated to worry, but what if we didn’t?
What if for at least one day we didn’t worry about anything – like Bob Marley sings.
My challenge for you is for one day this week, think about what it would be like to not worry about anything at all.
Simply live.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
– Leonardo da Vinci
“My role in society, or any artist’s or poet’s role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all.”
– John Lennon
But first, express how you feel.
This is difficult to do in societies that don’t encourage self-expression, but it is essential toward creating a better tomorrow, for us all.
There is something within you that this world needs now more than ever.
Discover it & share it.
The world will thank you.
With Ken Thompson 