Do you worry about finding just the right answers to your life questions?
Yesterday I mentioned Linda Douty's book How Did I Get to Be 70 When I'm 35 Inside? and quoted a portion that spoke to me. (Another author, Marjory Zoet Bankson, says she'd buy the book for anyone over 50. Actually, I think a person of any age can enjoy the wisdom and humor in this book.)
Douty talks about examining our beliefs, being willing to question and being open to discovery: "... make room for puzzlement and paradox," she says.
"Puzzlement and paradox." That sentiment highlights the growing awareness inside me that, these days, my questions are far more important than the answers. Formulating my questions and living with them just seems essential anymore, and I really am not so concerned about finding the correct answers as I was a decade or two ago. I used to spend hours devouring self-help books in my attempt to find answers. Now my genres of choice are fictional novels and books of inspiration. I don't need to worry about finding answers to life's questions in a book.
If we live our lives in anything approaching awareness, lots of questions will emerge. Why did this happen? What does it mean in the scheme of things? Where am I going? Who am I really? Why am I here? The lessons we learn—and the insights we discover—as we live with the questions are worth the journey! As the poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote, "... try to love the questions themselves.... Live the questions now."
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