THE MAGIC OF ASKING QUESTIONS

Life is not a mystery. There is a meaning to life. If you know this, you will ask the right questions - Terry Mante

QUESTION DEFINITION
A QUESTION is a mechanism we use to seek information, clarification or opinion about matters of interest. Students use questions to expand their knowledge base, teachers employ questions to assess their students, while journalists ask questions to derive information and clarification from policy makers. Researchers ask questions to gather and analyse data in order to contribute solutions to the problems that perplex humankind. In daily human interactions, we ask questions. Questions are fundamental to the human experience.

Some of the questions we ask daily are: What is your name? What’s for dinner? How is she? Where are you going? What is the agenda for today? How do I raise money for utility bill? Who should I marry? How many children do I want to have? How do I get a job? Which course should I study at school? Why is the earth not flat? Question upon question we ask.

When you ask a question, you expect to get an answer. Thus the answers you get reflect the questions you ask. You may not get the most ideal or desirable answers to all the questions you ask but one thing is for sure; no question, no answer. If you don’t ask questions, you will not have answers in your life. If your life is not moving on the track you desire, then you have to check the questions you’ve been asking.

QUESTION DYNAMICS
1. Wrong question, wrong answer: Of course, if you ask me “Terry, how old are you?” I shall answer appropriately by telling you my age. But perhaps, what you really need to know is not my age but my weight. So in my mind I would have answered your question well but you would have no use for the answer. If you think life is not responding to you the way you expect or desire, then turn and look at what you have been asking life to do for you. If you ask wrong questions, you will get wrong answers.

2. Right question, wrong answer: Sometimes, you may be asking the right questions but you’re getting crooked answers. If you deem the answers you are getting inappropriate, then perhaps you may want to reconsider the direction of your questions. What is the source of your answers? Do you know the basis of the answers you are getting? When you want to ask a question, be sure you are asking the right person. Be sure your source is credible. At other times however, the problem may not be with the answer but with you. Do you understand the answers you are getting? Do you have a frame that is able to correctly analyse and interpret the answers you receive?

3. Right question, right answer: Asking the right question is important but getting the right answer is even more important. When you act on the basis of the right answer, your life moves in the direction you desire. The quality of your life is directly linked with the questions you ask and the corresponding answers you receive. To drive your life positively, you must ask the right questions to the right people at the right time.

QUESTION DESIGN
HOW do you get to ask the questions that pertain to your life?
1. Know life: How can you ask questions about a concept you don’t know about? If you have a general idea of life, you can ask specific questions about life. Life is not a fluke. It is a carefully designed system that can be studied, observed and understood. Life is not a mystery. There is a meaning to life. If you know this, you will ask the right questions.

2. Know yourself: Every person has things that satisfy, annoy, excite, interest or exhaust them. You’ve got to know those specific things about yourself. This will cause you to ask the exact questions that relate to your life. Who are you? Why do you exist? What are your strengths and weaknesses? These are questions you need to ask about your life. And the answers you get will produce order and meaning in your life.

3. Know people: Your friends, family members, business partners, school mates, neighbours – these are people you interact with all the time. How well do you know them? Do you know what their values are? Have you checked what they have been reading? If you get to know these about those around you, you will know what to ask and what not to ask them.

IF YOU want to gain mastery over your life, you must constantly ask questions and seek answers to those questions.

© 2011 Terry Mante
PEDNET
Accra, Ghana