Who Can I Turn to When I Need Answers?
For every question I have ever asked, there are always multiple answers. We can’t all be right — but we could all be wrong. Who decides?
When I was a child I trusted my parents to provide the wisdom I needed to progress in my world. They never steered me wrong when it came to learning to tie my shoes, read an analog watch or learning to eat like a civilized human being using a knife and fork.
They knew stuff.
With each passing year of my childhood, the questions became more frequent and the answers often became even more murky.
- How do I decide who makes a good friend and who I should avoid?
- What classes should I take to best prepare me to function in life, make good decisions or achieve career success?
- Should I marry? Have children? Enter a nunnery?
These are all big questions with a variety of “right” answers.
Even the simple questions of childhood have evolved. I can avoid tying my shoes by wearing slip-ons or having Velcro straps on my tennis shoes. My watch (now a fitness tracker) is digital. I still use a knife and fork — except when I’m eating on the run and my sandwich is wrapped in aluminum foil and my coffee comes through a small hole in a plastic lid.
Life changes. Questions remain but the answers are more fluid.
The questions never stop. Every day presents new options, new ways to look at the world, new questions, new answers. What’s right for one person may not be right for another.
Most of us, I believe, come to a striking realization at some point in time — the questions are ubiquitous — the answers are our own.
I am more than willing to engage others in a dialog about almost any topic. In fact, my favorite discussions take place with those whose opinions are different (sometimes very different) from mine.
After all, if I only talk to or read the thoughts of people who already agree with my own pre-determined ideas, what hope is there of ever expanding my thoughts and growing in my own knowledge or decision-making abilities?
I welcome dissent.
I seek out conflicting opinions (if they are expressed with a level of intellect and rational presentation).
I am eager to consider the alternative response to anything I know, think, feel or say. Not necessarily for the purpose of changing anything at all about what I already think — oftentimes alternative thoughts only serve to reinforce my current stand on a topic.
No, I seek alternative thoughts so that I might never find myself in a position of ignorance because of my lack of willingness to hear all eighteen sides to any argument.
If everyone has an opinion on everything, and nearly everyone is eager to expound upon their personal take on the state of the world and its concerns, who can I trust to provide the best answer?
Fortunately, I’ve learned to trust my own good judgement — most of the time. Being open-minded allows me to see any potential decision from a variety of angles.
Being well-read and informed allows me to separate the wheat from the chaff when I evaluate that information.
So, who can I turn to for input when it’s time to make a decision? Turns out — everyone.
Who do I turn to for the final decision? — Only myself — and even that judgement may be subject to change based on additional input (from many sources).
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