Let's travel to the edge of our comfort zones for a few minutes...

`The god of each person is the point at which they stop openly entertaining and asking questions.`

#039 / 01.24.23

You don't have to read much of my writing to gather that curiosity and openness are traits I value in my life. I believe exploration is a key to growth, but I certainly have my limits — plenty of them.

Sometimes I play a game with myself where I come up with questions that would cause me to start getting fidgety, or even completely end a conversation with someone. It's not actually that hard; I just think of something I believe and challenge that belief.

Let's take something I said above as an example... "I believe exploration is a key to growth." Am I over-indexing on that? What might have happened in my life which led me to believe this? Am I afraid of what might happen if I stop believing this? Maybe I'm afraid of what might happen if I stop exploring? 🤔🤷‍♂️

This exercise flexes two muscles I think are important to strengthen — asking hard questions and fielding hard questions. I've found that the stronger and more well-defined a belief is, the more I bristle at interrogation. Over time, it has become easier to sit in the discomfort of being questioned.

To be clear, I don't think there's anything wrong with holding strong convictions, but in my experience, it's easy to get complacent and seek personal comfort and safety over all else.

Growth and learning are lifelong processes. I look forward to asking more questions and exploring new ideas together.

Before I let you go, a quick reflection: Where are your question boundaries? Pause and answer this for yourself. If you feel like sharing you can reply to this email. (I'll give you my answer if you ask!)

Thank you for joining me.

See you next Tuesday,

Benny

Read all the past issues of Frgmnts here.

Know someone that would enjoy Frgmnts? Copy this link and send it to them.

Keep up with all my poetry here.

0 comments

Frgmnts / Issue #066: Back Home

Frgmnts / Issue #065: Prioritizing the Stack

Frgmnts / Issue #064: When We're Apart

Frgmnts / Issue #063: Frgmnts is Back! (Plus: A book update + a new poem.)

Frgmnts / Issue #062: I Have No Idea What I'm Doing

See all posts from Benny Bowden