Wednesday, September 7, 2011

What Would You Do If...?


What immediately came to your mind when you read the title question for this post? 

What would you do if ________? 

Questions are powerful.  It could be argued that without questions there would be no advancement (however we want to define that term) in society.  It goes without saying that we are glad someone else asked, and answered, certain questions (e.g., I wonder what would happen if I squeezed that growth under the cow’s belly and then drank what came out of it? – OK, I think that is an old Jeff Foxworthy joke or something…). 

Be those things as they may be, questions are powerful.  In fact, it does not take much investigation to see how the questions being asked in a society play a major role (if not the major role) in shaping a society.  Yet before a society is shaped we know individuals need shaped first – right?  Evidently the questions you think about are important.  Of course individuals can also be shaped by a society – as the society poses certain questions (e.g., advertisements). 

How many times did you hear the question, “What are you going to be when you grow up?”  Did that have an impact on you?  If you are a parent, how many times have you asked that question?  What might that question convey to your children? 

If you are a parent how many times have you heard the question, “Mommy/Daddy, are we going to have any food to eat tonight?”  Oh, perhaps that has not been asked of you.  Evidently there are vitally important questions asked by many that others never even dream of having to ask.   

Yet one question everyone has asked in one way or another – no matter your culture or economic level – is, “What does the future hold in store for me?”  We all think about the future.  In fact, whether we realize it or not, what we think about the future will dictate our decisions in the present.  In light of that I think we can see that the questions we ask about the future are significant.  What do you think? 

What would you do if…?