8 Questions And A Why

I take a deep breath and choose to ignore my nagging ego and secret voice ’cause I am using Seth’s platform two days in a row to dive into this creative space, my safe harbor, my thinking palace of a blog. But in a world that’s suffering from lack of hope, compassion, heroes, teachers and a commonly uncommon sense of identity, I feel fortunate to have someone like Seth Godin to inspire and stimulate our collective thinking.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/12/8-questions-and-a-why.html

So, I will answer the 8 questions he posed today adding my whys at the end. The exercise is a public sort of catharsis – all you have to do is sit and do your own answers – no rights and wrongs in this one!

So, here is my jump into the metaphysical world of personal whys and becauses:

1. Who are you trying to please? Primarily myself – following my own sense of justice, morality and fairness, but I often yield to those I love BECAUSE  life has taught me that unless I am pleased, I can’t really offer anything meaningful and ever lasting to anyone else.
2. What are you promising? Excitement, openess, genuine directness and a pledge of not betraying someone’s trust; an attempt to come closer through a kinship of sorts, an alignment, a bridge to cross over BECAUSE I’ve decided long ago that life is more interesting when around those people you really like, value and cherish. And in order to keep these people in your life, you need to be faithful to your code of ethics, your laws, your ideals.
3. How much money are you trying to make? The amount is only a number – BECAUSE only those who are willing to sacrifice this amount for the principle of the ideal, can actually have so much fun doing whatever it is they decided to do to get even more money for it.
4.  How much freedom are you willing to trade for opportunity? Very little (if any) BECAUSE you always need the room and the freedom to decide which opportunities you will pursue, when and at what cost. And opportunities that deprive you of your freedom are not necessarily the best ones.
5. What are you trying to change? The level of acceptance for anything out of the ordinary or anyone out of the main stream BECAUSE multiplicity opens up the possibilities of deeper knowledge and by knowing more, you discover so much more about yourself and others.
6. What do you want people to say about you? Sharp brain; warm heart BECAUSE I know I can give back through these two, because of these two, in spite of those two but primarily because I think and feel through these two.
7. Which people? About 150 people or so – a close group of friends, colleagues, clients, guides, teachers and even some worthy opponents – a mixture of whom alternate through the years. The core of this group is made up by those I learned to love, respect and cherish BECAUSE they have taught me things, they have argued and fought with or against me, and in the end they have helped shape who I’ve become.
8. Do we care about you? Only an obituary would answer this question BECAUSE in the end what matters most is how well you lived, how much you loved and how well you learned to let go…

Have fun thinking of your answers, giving your whys…