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Home |  Personal Development | Meaning Article Archive | Question Everything

Question Everything

Living More Than a Blind Existence
BY: T. Franklin Murphy  | November 2017 (edited March 13, 2022)
Mindfulness
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Life can be lived in blindness, missing the richness, marching blindly through nothingness. Some question everything, finding new answers and new joys.
The other day, I spotted a trail of ants, crossing my patio, and disappearing into the planter. I watched these little creatures cross my yard, not organized, occasionally colliding, but moving with purpose. The little creatures, biologically programmed, marched on a mission of survival, securing food. No cognitive thought, no conscious goal, no struggles with laziness, or dissatisfaction with bosses—they just marched.

As humans, we operate differently. We have cognitive powers. We think; we create complex plans and address complex problems. Cognition, essential to manage complexity, is a mixed blessing.  Cognitions create meaning. Dancing thoughts demand a reason—a meaning to their madness; we must know why. Yet lost in the sea of reasons, we settle for simplicity, ignoring the complexity of intertwining causes behind actions.
"The current state of the world has many of us rethinking everything — our politics. our families. our jobs. our hobbies. our vices. our virtues. our quarrels. our enemies. our friends. our plans." 
Causeraysaid
We get lost in the competitive race to get more; we get up early and work late. But are dumbfounded when others inquire the reasons we need more. For nearly two decades, I commuted on sixty miles of crowded freeways. The term “rat race” aptly describes the thousands of motorists jarring for position, weaving through traffic, to save a few seconds from their commutes.
"Questions open a space in your mind that allow better answers to breathe."
~Richie Norton   

Take Time to Ask Questions

We blindly march back and forth in habitual routines seemingly content to let unknown factors determine the outcomes of our lives. 

Many years ago, my oldest child curiously asked endless streams of questions. He would string together questions, digging deeper and deeper into meaning. His young mind was curious. Why are we getting into the car? Why are we going to the store? Why do we eat? On and on, his rapid-fire questions would come. One day, perhaps, short on patience, I commented, “aren’t you a little question man.” He pause for a moment then asked, “what’s a question man?”

We could use more questioning men and women, stopping the blind march to ask a few probing questions.
"A creative person is by nature a questioner. They are driven by doubt, curiosity and wonderment." 
Rod Judkins M.A., RCA  | Psychology Today
Our daily routines are full of automated actions, freeing cognitive energy. We don’t need to waste time pondering the biomechanics of digestion, nutrients, and energy when we go to the store for milk and eggs. We notice the eggs are gone and the milk empty; without thought, we grab the keys and go.

Our conscious mind has limited capacity. Habits, thinking heuristics, and biases assist in filling the voids. Attention focuses on threats without conscious directions; but when the action lulls and life slows down, the wise return to the event to gather understanding.  Other times, comfort permeates our days, no eminent threats of the horizon to draw attention, during the calmness our minds may wander—to the unproductive fields where futures are destroyed, and dreams are smashed.
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”
―Albert Einstein   

Structure and Chaos

We must examine habitual behaviors, devoid of thought, for balance. Unmonitored action may destroy careers, families, intimacy, and dreams. The actions may not appear disastrous—even appearing mundane. But the small, simple behaviors accumulate and powerfully impact our lives. Examining the little reactions and every day habits, we wisely interrupt destructive paths, and seek better avenues to add meaning and richness to life.
 
At first, recognizing blindly followed routines may shock the examiner. From new macro-perspectives, we painfully notice monotony. Waking to the morning alarm, driving to work, getting paid, and doing chores on the weekend. Life has become a routine, missing the richness of experience. Millions joining in the monotony of survival, driving varying distances just to turn around and drive home at the end of the day—cogs in the wheel of massive profit and loss machines. In many ways, we resemble the ants in the garden.
"It is our questions that fuel and drive our thinking. Many problems arise from making assumptions. If you assume, you think you know when you probably don’t."
Rod Judkins M.A., RCA  | Psychology Today
Conversely, many abandon the structured walls of habitual and structured behaviors only to be destroyed by chaos—some structure is essential.
 
If we look a little deeper, past the habitual patterns, we might discover meaning, uncovering the richness of human cognition.

​Inhabiting each car on the crowded roadway is a person; each possessing their own collection of joys and sorrows. When traffic slows, I occasionally glance into the private chambers of others’ worlds—the solitary cabins of their cars. The morose expressions, the joyous laughs, each tell deeper stories.
"​You can still question things, but if you begin skipping out on life to question it, you have already begun to die."
John Gorman
We are constantly surrounded by the complex lives of others. Behind outer expressions are layers of untold stories—peace, happiness, sadness, anger, bitterness, loneliness, heartbreak, concern, compassion. Some are battling debilitating diseases, others absorbed in abusive relationships; many basking in joys of a recent success, while others recovering from devastating failures. Look around, open your eyes, we are surrounded; Ordinary people fighting addictions.

​The waves of emotions—joys and sorrows—flow through the everyday lives of our fellow travelers. Do you see them? Feel their aliveness? We are not alone in struggles or in triumphs. Billions of people each struggling, enjoying, and making their way through life the best they know how.

A Time to Stop Questioning and Start Living

Just as John Gorman warns in the quote above, there is time where questions interfere with a flourishing life. We need some stability—a solid piece of ground to stand on. We need some security, trusting in some fundamental features of our lives.

I upset a man once after he commented, "I believe in nothing. Nothing in life can be trusted." I insensitively responded, "that's an interesting belief."

The truth is we have beliefs, whether we acknowledge them or not. We have foundational guides that determine how we process all the other information. Flourishing requires adopting foundational beliefs that propel us forward and not imprison us to blindness.

Finding the middle ground between questioning and accepting is our task. 
Take time during your survival march, peer through your daily routines to see a little more, examining the richness of life surrounding us. A few mindful observations build stronger connections to the community, lifting noxious judgments. By knowing others experience pain, joy, sorrow and anger we feel less alone and more connected. These expanding connections—beyond our immediate circle—transform our experience of living. Not just blindly marching but actively living.
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T. Franklin Murphy
T. Franklin Murphy
Wellness. Writer. Researcher.
​T. Franklin Murphy has a degree in psychology. He tirelessly researches scientific findings that contribute to wellness. In 2010, he began publishing his findings.

Index:

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Psychology of Wellness
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About Flourishing Life
Flourishing Life Society Link to research articles
Faulty Symbols of Success. A Flourishing Life Society article link
We are engaged in a constant work of becoming, satisfying needs, entertaining wants, and creating meaning. We can do this purposely or haphazardly.
Psychology Definitions Data Base Link
External Link:
External Link: 3 Ways to Meditate for Better Sleep
External Link:  When You Focus on Yourself, Don’t Forget Everyone Else
External Link:  The Hunger for ‘More’
External Link: Pursuing happiness may cause depression--if you are from the UK or USA
External Link: The Seven Archetypes of Human Consciousness
External Link: Four Habits of Discipline My SEAL Dad Taught Me
External Link: These simple habits will help you lead a more productive life
External Link: If You Are Serious About Achieving Success In Any Area of Your Life, Master Your Mindset

​Other Flourishing Life Society articles of interest on this topic:

We are engaged in a constant work of becoming, satisfying needs, entertaining wants, and creating meaning. We can do this purposely or haphazardly.
Eudaimonia: Living Well and Doing Good. A Flourishing Life Society article link
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Learning comes from more than pages in a book. Living knowledge must be experienced, converting words into actions.
Life Course Theory. A psychology definition article link
Flourishing Life Society article link. A Meaningful Life
Reciprocal Determinism. A Flourishing Life Society article link
Intrigued by secrets, we seek the hidden, wasting precious time chasing unknown promises. Success is no secret formula. We achieve through consistent skilled effort, blessed by a little luck.
FLS Link. Realistic Optimism: Optimism brings energy to action, motivating persistence in the face of difficulty. Our wellness benefits most from optimism when it is based in reality.
FLS Link. Experiencing Awe: Experiences of awe promote pro-social behavior and invite psychological development. The wise find awe in the awesomeness of life.
Biologically driven to chase pleasure, we avoid pain; but modern society evolved quicker than our biological systems could adapt. We must measure impulses first for effectiveness.
FLS Link. An Article on Complexity: The simple positive messages spread easy. We enjoy hearing them and pass them along. The more complex messages of reality are not always attractive, requiring thought, and are passed over or even rejected. We need both.
Primal World Beliefs. A Flourishing Life Society article image link
We can see the world a little clearer by stepping beyond the confines of our own ego.
Life is complex, not easily described in words. True wisdom comes from accepting the messiness in the unknowable world.
Logotherapy. A psychological definition of logotherapy. Article link
FLS internal link. Question Everything. Living More than a Blind Existence. Life can be lived in blindness, missing the richness of existence and forced into a blind march through the nothingness.
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