We all ponder various philosophical questions in some fashion or another on almost every single day of our lives. Back in July of this year, I decided to capitalize on this very thing by posing 10 questions of my own for each of you to think about. Because I was told on more than one occasion how they generated good spiritual conversations, I’ve decided to do this exercise again with 10 more. I hope all of you will take a little bit of time to reflect on each of them and may your spirituality be blessed in the process…
1. You are in a group of people where one of them is making severely racist jokes or comments. What do you do?
2. If you knew you only had one day left to live, how would you spend it?
3. If you were suddenly given one million dollars tax free, what would you do with it?
4. If you had the ability to change one aspect of the entire world all at once, what would it be?
5. Where would you say the majority of your happiness is coming from these days?
6. You’re having lunch with several people whom you love and cherish when they abruptly all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing that person is your friend. What do you do?
7. If you could effectively communicate one piece of advice to all newborn children in the world where it would change each of their lives forever, what would it be?
8. If you had to be stranded on an island with one and only one person for the rest of your life, who would you want it to be?
9. If you could instantly change one and only thing about yourself permanently, what would it be?
10. If you could instantly change one and only one thing about your closest friend, spouse, or significant other permanently, what would it be?
And here’s one more for good measure:
11. What three things are you the most grateful for at this very moment?
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
1. Racist / homophobic jokes – I shut that crap down. “Hey now, that kind of nonsense hasn’t been appropriate since high school, and it wasn’t really appropriate *then*, either.”
2. One more day? I’d have my “funeral” early. Surrounded by as many friends and family as possible, to eat a great meal and let them tell me all the stuff they’d say after I’m dead, but in my presence, with lots of kisses and hugs and music. Hopefully with good barbeque.
3. A million dollars tax free? I’d set aside a third for retirement, pay my taxes, get a car, pay off my debts, help my sister and brother-in-law with their struggles, and then travel everywhere that I could. I’d probably let Chris quit his job, and I’d go ahead and travel with mine!
4. Change one aspect of the entire world? That’s tough – because the big three are hate, fear, and greed. Mindless hate I guess would be mine – because fear can be eased through exposure, but greed doesn’t kill as much as pure mindless unthinking hate.
5. What’s the heart of happiness? Acceptance and gratitude, in equal measures.
6. People criticizing a close friend? I listen, and I respond out of love and concern, and encourage the others to do the same.
7. One piece of advice to all newborn children? No matter what anyone else says or does, believe that you are loved.
8. Who to be stranded on an island with? Strangely, it’s not my partner. He would find being trapped on an island for life to be like prison. I think he could accept the loss of me more than being trapped with me. So it would more likely be a thinker or philosopher – someone with the ability both to make interesting conversation and to catch fish 🙂
9. Change one thing about me? The craving for “more” – more food, more approval, more love, more sex, more money. I’d like to have “enough.” I’m closer to there, but clearly not there yet.
10. Change one thing about my SO? Interestingly enough, my best friend and my partner both tend to be polar opposites in one area: my best friend is a generalist, interested in everything; my partner has a few areas that he is DEEPLY passionate about, and not so much anything else. I’d like him to be open to more interests.
11. Three gratitude items? Life, health, and sobriety. A fourth would be you, for asking the questions.
(One thing I’m NOT grateful for, by the way, is your comment-window time-out. I’ve learned – the hard way – to write my longer responses (like this) in WordPad, and then paste them in, so I don’t lose everything when I hit enter…)
Wow, deeply well thought answers my friend. My personal favorite is #5 I think. But, ultimately, the island one made me think the most about my own relationship as well. I think he I and would do well on the island but he might get upset that I don’t have much in the way of survival skills. LOL. He’d probably send me off to the beach to keep it clean like I do my yard. Heh heh. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to respond and oh, by the way, you’re not the first to tell me about the time out. My guess is it’s probably 3 to 5 minutes and it times out. I’m not sure how I can let people know that, and I don’t think I can change that parameter unfortunately. Grrrr.