Friday, April 25, 2014

The Power of Asking Questions

My sister and her family left yesterday and what a fantastic visit it was. We had so much fun exploring Savannah, the beach, the swamps and going to Florida to Kennedy Space center, where we even got to see a live rocket launch. We played, we talked, we walked, we ate good food, and we played some more. It was wonderful!!
By the way, my sister Caroline took all these gorgeous photos on our recent visit to Okefenokee Swamp!
Last night, they left to return to Germany and I thought I'd need to rest for a while, but instead I was filled with ideas, especially for this blog. I feel on fire with inspiration! Let me explain.
Caroline and I were talking one day about how as we get older, the limiting thoughts we take for granted start defining our lives and determine what we think we can and can't do. We basically become our fears if we don't question them our lives can become small even though we sometimes wish it could be different.
I was watching her boys who in some ways are still their full potential. They are learning some limiting thoughts from their environment, especially school, as we all do and did, but for the most part, in their minds everything is still possible. I love that! And I hated the thought that for me that time could be over. I don't want to accept that.
I remembered a workshop I went to a few years ago that taught transformation based on quantum physics. Basically we learned to connect to "the field" and affect change where everything exists as possibility and pure potential and hasn't become "real" yet. One of the most powerful tools we learned about was the use of open-ended questions.
When you ask a question that can be answered with yes or no, it is usually based in what we think of as fact, but when you ask an open-ended question, anything seems to be possible as the answer.
My favorite open-ended, thought-provoking and change-evoking questions start with "What if." So, last night, feeling incredibly inspired, I started writing down "What if" questions and within probably 15 minutes I had come up with over 80 of them. Eighty! And that was without even trying hard.
Each one of these is connected to a limiting thought I have about myself, about my life, about life in general, about other people, about success, about aging, my health, etc.! What a box I am starting to put myself into and I don't like it. I truly do believe that each of us are unlimited potential and that it is never too late to become all that we want to be.
So, for the next foreseeable future I am going to explore on this blog these questions and their corresponding limiting beliefs I have created in my life. I am determined to reprogram my thinking so to speak and to allow for the future to be as bright and shiny and exciting as I believed it to be when I was my nephews' age. And I'll be eager to hear your take on some of these!
Here's the question I'll ponder in my next blog post: 

What if the best was still to come? 

What if?!


Silke

12 comments:

  1. Liebe Silke,

    das ist reine Freude.

    Sonnige Grüße
    Elisabeth

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  2. -clapping hands- -doing happy dance- oh this is wonderful!!!!

    i love, love, love this kind of blogging! I am doing it myself. I am seeing other bloggers, doing it. I love it!!!!!!

    wheeeeeeeee....!!!! here we go, into uncharted territory. awaking things in ourselves, and in others. taking out many "old laws" which we were taught... examining them... using our own minds to come to conclusions, about them.

    some "old laws" will probably still make sense to our "today self." some certainly will not.

    even just giving ourselves permission to look inside, deal with such things, etc., is a big step. a very big step. one has to be ready, as it were.

    or not.

    sometimes life demands of us, to step out into not-safe-territory. we are stronger than we give ourselves credit for. we can do it.

    enough! sorry for rattling on. this is so thrilling to me, that i do get carried away. lol

    tessa~

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  3. So glad to know you had a wonderful visit with Caroline & family and were left feeling inspired! Looking forward to your next post. Life is good!

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  4. You Know what! I just loved your post and am at the same age and thinking process. I actually copied this and put it in my journal for some more serious thought on this. I tis hard to accept limitations as we age and i keep having the feeling that i have to live faster and faster so i can get it all done. I love this reframing idea and am going to start thinking about this. Loved your post and will look forward to more of this thinking!

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  5. Interesting! I like this idea very much and I'm looking forward to your future posts.

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  6. You are not only inspired ... you have inspired others ... that is a best that has already come. Your question is a loaded one ... first we must think about, what is the "best" that is yet to come. Is it something we have to aspire to or does it just happen if we open our minds to it. This gets very deep and I admire your enthusiasm ... but I have a secret to tell you ... age isn't limiting, it opens doors we never thought we would go through ... because we are wise enough now to know they are there. So think and muse over your questions, but don't imagine that age can't be your friend ... there is much to look forward to, always!

    Andrea @ From The Sol

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  7. what a lovely thing to contemplate--what if the best were yet to come....

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  8. Wunderwunderschöne Fotos! Was für eine traumhafte Natur! Ich bin ganz hin und weg! Besser gesagt wäre ich am liebsten dort! :)
    Wünsch dir ein schönes Wochenende!
    LG Mary

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  9. So excited to see what's next on your blog! I am going through pretty much the same stuff....not liking the feeling of possibilities decreasing as I get older. I want the opposite! Makes me think of my favorite quote by Anais Nin...The world shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage. I am looking to expand!!

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  10. I love your idea and thoughts. I am in need of changing my thoughts, but the problem is, I am not finished mourning. I do not know if I ever will be...I don't want to forget.

    **blows kisses**
    Deb

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  11. I love that - What if?

    We had a life changing event recently - a wonderful young man (38), an angel on earth, the assistant principal of the school where I taught, deaf from a young age, a medalist in water polo in the Deaflympics, an incredible teacher and mentor, a doting husband and father - was taken from our community while he was out running in training for a marathon. At 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning, a 23 year old girl who was drunk and on drugs jumped the guard rail and hit Chris.

    But, the community decided to take Chris' death as a sign that we should live more like him and not let fear keep us from achieving more in our lives. Chris did not let his handicap keep him from LIVING LARGE. He and his high school students did fundraisers to earn money to build a school in Africa. Then he and those same students traveled to Africa during their summer vacation and built that school in Sierra Leone.

    Seriously, everyone who knew and loved Chris is saying that his life and death must have some greater meaning and we are sharing what we are doing to step out of our comfort zones. Last week my husband decided that he was not going to let a health issue keep him from traveling and we got in the car for a long road trip to visit family.

    Sorry for the long writing, but all of us are still feeling the death of Chris just 3 weeks ago today and we are looking for our answers. So, I am going to pose your question to our family at dinner tonight.

    Thank you

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  12. Dearest Silke, after days of thinking about your ideas, I have decided that even though I believe my Best has already been lived, I have decided to open my heart to the belief that a new Good is still ahead of me, a different Good. Maybe even Really Good. Which would be the icing on my Blessed Cake of a Life. First weekend I did not spending mourning like a wild animal. Thank you for that, my friend.

    **kisskiss**
    Deb

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