Gentle reader, for the next posting or two I will be sharing with you some of the questions that have emerged into my consciousness these past decades. I invite you to begin to emerge your own list of ‘Essential Life Questions’ and if any of the questions I have to offer you resonate with you or challenge you or ‘call to you’ then I invite you to spend some time reflecting upon them and perhaps writing down what emerges for you and perhaps engaging another person or two or three in a collective searching conversation.
Following are the first four categories of questions that I continue to hold; these continue to be ‘Essential Life Questions’ for me.
IDENTITY QUESTIONS
- Who has influenced me such that I am ‘who I am’ at this time in my life?
- Who am I at this time in my life?
- Who am I choosing to become?
- Why am I choosing this becoming?
PURPOSE QUESTIONS
- Why am I here? At this time, what is my purpose in life?
- Why do I choose to get up each morning?
- How do I know if I am awake and aware to my life’s purpose? How do I know if I am asleep (i.e. Not Aware of my Life’s Purpose)?
- How do I help others find/affirm their life’s purpose?
MEANING QUESTIONS
- What really matters?
- How do I make meaning out of my life?
- What do I choose to focus on at this time in my life? Why?
- How do I help others find meaning?
- How do I uncover my deepest assumptions (about people, life, the world, etc.)?
- How do I know that I have ‘free will’?
- What does ‘self-reflection’ mean? (Socrates prided himself for being one who know how little he knew; he gained this insight via self-reflection)
MISSION QUESTIONS
- What is my ‘call’? How do I know?
- What is a need that exists in the/my world that my gifts, talents and abilities can help address?
- How do I respond (have I responded) to this need?
- To what extent am I purposefully engaged or just endlessly busy?
- To what extent does my work challenge me in meaningful ways (versus just being stress-inducing)?
- Is what I choose to do each day in, and of itself, meaningful?