Why or Why Not?
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Do you ever find that you are asking yourself why or why not a lot?
Often the topic can be similar, but it’s just a matter of approach. Why take that chance? Why not take that chance?
Why is a question we ask constantly, pretty much all of our lives. Why is the sky blue? Why are those people holding hands? Why did he/she/they dump me? And so forth.
Why not, however, is usually more rhetorical in nature. Why not move to Albuquerque? Why not ask him/her/them out? Why not ask for that loan? The reason that this is more rhetorical in nature generally is because when you ask in this manner, you have likely decided to do the thing, but are now looking for a means to talk yourself out of it.
Why not take a chance? For a lot of people, myself included, fear of the unknown is pretty powerful. Like super-scary, frightening consequences powerful. However, the reality is that likely the outcome, good or bad, is less terrifying that it is being made out to be.
The only thing you or I have any control over is our individual thoughts, feelings, and actions. We decide what to think about, how we are feeling, and actions to take along the way. Though it can be really hard to accept, when we get anxious about the unknown, change, and taking a chance, we are building something out of nothing.
Sure, the outcome may not be what we most desire. Chances are, however, that our greatest anxiety about the outcome is more frightening than what will actually, factually happen.
Why or Why Not Is a Matter of Direction
Taking chances comes with risks. No doubt about that. Go downhill skiing the first time, you risk falling. Maybe even falling and hurting yourself. On the other hand, go downhill skiing the first time, and maybe you’ll experience the thrill of the wind whipping past you as you whoosh down the hill, and experience a fun winter activity.
I am going to put this pretty bluntly here. There are no guarantees in this life. Every single day may be our last. Bleak? No, not at all. I am not making this statement to be a downer. I make this statement to point out that every single day is a new adventure.
Sure, every day is full of potentially scary things. On the other hand, every day is full of amazing possibilities. The point is, spending all of your time worrying about what may or may not happen is pointless. You never know exactly what you will get.
I am not saying that planning out a future and setting goals is useless. Not at all. This is about facing the why or why not, and allowing fear and uncertainty to keep you from going somewhere you really desire to go.
Why not see every day full or potential? The possibilities are really endless, and you never know what amazing things you might experience.
No, I am not saying you will not have horrible, awful, no-good days. You will lose people you love, opportunities will elude you, and you may face depression, disappointment, and loneliness. That is part of the human experience my friends. When it does go badly and you are unhappy, however, you get to choose whether to linger there, or do what you can to release and move forward.
Why or Why Not Move Forward
The world is constantly changing. It is an inevitable fact of life. No matter how stagnant or static something may seem, it is changing. You and I get to choose whether or not we accept it, encourage it, or resist it. None of those are the wrong answer, depending on what the change is.
Also, it’s important to acknowledge that not all change is good. So sometimes you need to resist it.
What we cannot do is go back. We can only keep moving forward. The past has passed, and rather than try to reclaim it, resurrect it, or otherwise bring it back, we need to learn to let it go and move forward.
I know that, per Einstein, time is an illusion. Or in the parlance of Doctor Who a “Weebly-wobbly, timey-wimey ball of stuff.” However, our society perceives time largely in a linear fashion. In that respect, you cannot go backwards, you can only move forwards. The world changes, and you can sit there asking why, or approach it instead with a sense of why not?
Why are so many government officials corrupt? How about, instead, ask Why not attend that rally or why not sign that petition or why not vote for the better candidate? The former is a question that, even with an answer, offers no solution. But the latter is an option with a solution, which is proactive rather than reactive.
Why or Why Not be Proactive?
Our society tends to be really reactive. Rather than anticipate matters and take actions for them, we see things happen and react to them. I think this is why we frequently go after quick-fix solutions, rather than long-term results. We act reactively instead of proactively.
Asking why not is a more proactive approach than asking why. It sets us in motion and sets up action, which will help us to go places of our choosing, rather than being carried along by the tide. Rather than just question something, you are questioning with recognition of a proactive action in response to the question.
Being proactive is the difference between always feeling behind and like you have limited options, and feeling in control with many options. Truly, all too often being reactive does present us with more limited choices. Since we did not take action beforehand, now we are playing catch-up.
When you and I are proactive, we are stepping into the realm of empowering our ability to use consciousness to create reality. We get to not just watch the world go by, but to decide upon how we participate in our own lives, and how our finite time in this world is going to be.
I don’t know about you, but I certainly prefer having more options and making my own choices than not.
Will you approach your day today from why or why not?
This is the three-hundred seventy-second entry in my series. These weekly posts are ideas for, and my personal experiences with, walking along the path of life to consciously create reality. I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world along the way, and empower myself and my readers with conscious reality creation.
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