Have You Ever Wondered "Why" ?

It seems like a rhetorical question; but it really isn't. Sadly, we live in a world where far too many people have the cahones to ask the hardest of the W questions: WHY?!?!

To understand why something is happening requires more than just the facts. It requires the intelligent interpretation of those facts. Before you even get to that point, though, you must recognize that there is even a question to be asked rather than to simply accept things as they are.

The who, what, when, and where are all given to us. Those are factual observations that require a minimal amount of digging. For example:

• A man walks briskly through the park.
• Who: a man
• What: is walking
• When: right now
• Where: the park

This is, obviously, a ridiculous example. At least until we get to the important question: Why?? The thing is that I have not given you nearly enough information to answer that question. I haven't even given you cause to ask it in the first place. Yet, there must be a reason that the man is walking briskly through the park. You just have to ask. Then, you will start to pay attention to the little things that may give you the answer.

I have little interest in this hypothetical man. However, I do have interest in the situations that prompt, or fail to prompt, individuals to ask themselves "why". I am beginning to think that the latter is more common than the former. There are so many things that go on in our daily lives. So many different situations. So many people. So many responsibilities. So many stimuli. How can we possibly look at all of them through a critical lens?

We can't.

However, it is important that we do so more than we don't.

I am the best at asking "why" when it comes to people. Particularly when it comes to myself and my loved ones. I am constantly scrutinizes and searching for the reasons. For the clues that will answer the question. Shockingly, it tends to be easier to do with others than with myself.

Yet, my observations in others will inevitably lead me through a cognitive loop that ends at introspection.

If you are going to question others, then you must also have the courage to question yourself.

For once, I do not really feel like sharing the specific situations that have gone on over the course of the last week or so to bring me to this place where I am placing increased significance upon my own motivations. However, I will say that it is all good. That my reasons for keeping them private are not sinister, just precious. Everyone has things that they like to keep as little treasures in their hearts.

Moments where you recognize that you are doing things that are no longer applicable to your life. Moments where you recognize that you no longer need the things that you once did. Moments where you acknowledge that the analysis of others is not nearly of as tantamount importance as the analysis of your self.

You see. When you have a situation in your life that causes you to react strongly or defensively, then you must gather your facts. You must look at the who, what, when and where. If the facts don't necessarily add up to your reaction, then you must search for the why. You have to look at the little clues and the details. You may have to think of similar situations from your past or times when you have had the same reaction in different circumstances. If the facts don't add up, then you have to do some serious digging.

Odds are that you will dig up some things that don't really have a place in the current situation. Your reaction was probably warranted in other situations. Meaning that you had learned to act that way. That you were not intending to act inappropriately out of spite or naivete.

Maybe this will help you to come to peace with things that are in your past. Maybe this will make you realize that you are not at peace with the things that are in your present. Hopefully, it will help you to be more present in the future.


Just a thought.