INTRODUCTION

Questions have many powers.
And these include the following
* spark imagination
* challenge convictions
* open new areas of contemplation
* set into motion reflections
* expose gaps in thinking
* fire up emotions
* plumb the internal world
* etc.

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In our excessively busy society. We tend to be rushing around attempting to accomplish tasks. Yet we rarely take the time or energy to privately consider our motives and intentions. We can get tangled up in the who, what, when, where and how without knowing why.

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Well selected questions that are actually grappled with can begin the journey. This journey leads to discovering and developing our own matrix of answers.

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The questions on this blog are just a start in improving and developing your worldview. These are matters for you to ask yourself and answer to your self. Today you are living from your answers to these questions at an unconscious level. By bringing them to the light you will become more integrated, whole and peaceful.

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Note that these questions are taken from a wide variety of sources. Some sources include philosophy, psychology and religion.

These are the matters that are rarely mentioned in causal social conversations.

You have heard others like your parents and teachers express their views. That is interesting. But apart from trying to please anyone … what are your answers?

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Socrates said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.”
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I do not need or want your answers.

For now hold these questions that stand out to you in your heart and head.

Then you might choose to express your answers in various ways.

Some options include a journal, blog, forum or your own website.

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CHALLENGE

Here is a challenge if you have the courage.

Print this blog.

Mark on the print out the questions that most appeal to you today.

Decide if journaling in a paper journal or word processor is best for you.

Put each question at the top of the page.

Write any and everything that comes to your mind and heart.

Just dump it all.

Then let it sit for a while.

Come back and reread what is written.

Write more and/or rewrite parts for clarity.

At first keep this very private and confidential.

Get to know much more about your thoughts and feelings.

Later you may wish to share some parts with some people.

That may be in conversation, email, letter, video tape or other.

You could make an audio and/or video recording.

It may be especially useful to share simple summaries with those that you love. That could include boyfriend, girlfriend, fiancee, wife, husband, child, grandchild, etc.

It may be useful to share this with your pastor, therapist, counselor, coach, etc.

Notice the questions that you do not want to deal with now.
Why is that?
Are they not relevant?
Are they too painful?
Have you never considered such matters?
Do not rush but also do not hide.
Make a note to come back later.

Here are ways to share your answers and what they may inspire with others.

Live Journal http://www.livejournal.com/ is an online journal with private and public options.

Blogger http://www.blogger.com is the free host for this blog.

You Tube http://www.youtube.com/ is a free way to publish video online.

The default setting on You Tube is Public. But on your free account you can make the video you upload Private. Then send links to closest friends, relatives or other key people. Invite them to see the fruit of the insights you gained from your journaling and recorded on your webcam.

I know from much personal experience journaling that after clearing out the junk from my heart and mind by journaling then there is often a spontaneous flow of love, truth, wisdom, insights, understanding, exhortations, etc. Some of this is suitable for a general audience and other for a select set of persons.

Keep and Share http://www.keepandshare.com/ is a free service with various ways to do what the name says keep and share.

QUESTIONS

Who am I?

Why am I here?

Where did I come from?

Where am I going?

Who cares if I live or die ... succeed or fail … do well or poorly?

If I had plenty of time and money (plus a guarantee that I would succeed) then how would I invest the rest of my life?

What are my hopes?

What are my fears?

Who are the few people I admire the most?

If nothing much changes, then what would my life be like in one, five and ten years from now?

What are the three areas of my life that I most want to change in the coming months and years?

What are my weaknesses and how can I address them?

What are my strengths and how can I develop them?

What kinds of knowledge do I need to gain and how will I do that?

What kinds of skills do I need to acquire or improve and how will I do that?

What kinds of people do I need to enroll into my life and how will I do that?

Honestly how do I feel about myself?

Honestly how do I feel about my past?

Honestly how do I feel about my present?

Honestly how do I feel about my future?

What are the three worst things that could happen in my life this year and how can I minimize or avoid them?

What are the three best things that could happen in my life this year and how can I maximize or guarantee them?

What few obstacles have been blocking the pathway to achieving my most important goals and what can I do about them this year?

What activities give me the most enjoyment and how can I do them more?

What kinds of factors need to be present for me to excel and how can I optimize these?

Truthfully what are my inner most motives and intentions?

Would I rather live with a comfortable deception or an unpleasent truth?

What are my highest prioroties in the light of my mortality? (I could die any day.)

How can I live my life so that it is purposeful and not wasteful?

At the end of my life, what is the legacy I want to leave?

What character qualities do I have that I could improve or increase?

What character qualities do I have that I want to minimize or decrease?

What character qualities do I find in my heros alive or dead that I want to gain or improve?

(Go to the Character Development Hub for a list of character qualities that you might want more of and less of http://characterdevelopmenthub.blogspot.com/

Based on the Six Thinking Hats by Edward De Bono (see Amazon and search Google)
How can I improve and increase my various thinking skills illustrated by the six hats
The following is taken from the back of the book
White Hat -- neutral and objective, concerned with facts and figures
Red Hat -- the emotional view
Black Hat -- careful and cautious, the "devil's" advocate
Yellow Hat -- sunny and positive
Green Hat -- associated with fertile growth, creativity and new ideas
Blue Hat -- cool, the color of the sky, above everything else - the organizing hat


Considering the subject of LOVE … how have I received and given love in the past … how is it going presently … how can this improve in the future?

Considering the subject of SECURITY … how have I felt about and achieved security in the past … how is it going presently … how can this improve in the future?

Considering the subject of SIGNIFICANCE … how have I felt about and achieved significance in the past … how is it going presently … how can this improve in the future?

Considering the subject of BELONGING … how have I felt about and achieved belonging in the past … how is it going presently … how can this improve in the future?

Considering the subject of ACCOMPLISHMENT … what have I accomplished in the past … how is it going presently … how can this improve in the future?

How can my thoughts, words and deeds become better aligned with my values and priorities …. what are the critical projects and action steps?

If I were to honor the best advice given by my MOTHER (that I have been ignoring) then how would I change my life?

If I were to honor the best advice given by my FATHER (that I have been ignoring) then how would I change my life?

If I were to honor the best advice given by my DOCTOR(S) (that I have been ignoring then) how would I change my life?

If I were to honor the best advice given by my DENTIST (that I have been ignoring) then how would I change my life?

If I were to honor the best advice given by my TEACHERS (that I have been ignoring then) how would I change my life?

How can my I make an important contribution to my community?

How can the over all output of my life serve a higher purpose than my personal comfort and convenience?



Consider these mentoring questions by Fred Smith
http://www.breakfastwithfred.com/library/mentoring/


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Books

Visit a Christian bookstore and Christian Book dot com http://www.christianbook.com/ There you will find books on journaling. And you will find blank books to write your journal.

Especially consider How to Keep a Spiritual Journal by Ronald Klug http://tinyurl.com/cm2929

Also there is a secular book named Identity Code by Laurence Ackerman http://www.theidentitycode.com/buybook.html for your consideration. And note these pungent questions that are the skeleton of the book. http://www.theidentitycode.com/excerpt_intro.html