Ask for Life

  Book Title: Ask more

Book chapter: Lessons for life : Legacy Questions

Author: Frank Sesno   Reviewed by: Jason Cheng Qi Quan

 Everyone of us experiences life differently. Most of us pondering what is life about. What is life? This question keeps appearing on our minds. Nowadays, it is very convenient to scroll social media like Facebook and Instagram. It enables us to know more about our friends' latest status. They post their highlight reel. They show their greatest achievement in their happy life.  If you understand what you want and need in life, you will feel proud of your friends. However,  if you feel lost and you continue to access social media app, you will feel depressed and self-doubt. Therefore, if you feel lost, withdraw yourself from the social media app a moment and start to ask yourself the question. 

          Ask ourselves the question is important because it can reshape and reform our main goal in life. Our needs and wants will be change accordingly when we grow older. It is fine to change your goal as long as it can motivate you to continue to live and work hard.  As we know that life is imperfect. Every successful story behind has a pain and struggling experience.  We use our willpower to pursue the goal in life. If you keep using your willpower and work very hard, you will feel tired easily. For example, imagine you are participating in a 10 km marathon. At the beginning of the race, you run as fast as you could. You use all of your energy to sprint. Do you think you can maintain it for 10 km? Not really. You will stop and walk after a short distance because you feel tired. Your tank is empty and you feel difficult to continue the journey again.  It is similar to life. If you too harsh on yourself and work without rest, you will feel tired one day and you will not push yourself anymore.  

Therefore, we must pause and ask the question then search for our meaning. In a certain moment of your life, remember to ask yourself, 

who am I?

Am I happy?

Am I satisfying with my life?

Am I loving my job?

Does this all matter to me?

        These questions travel with you in life.  You must have the courage to ask them. It is a process of self-reflection and improvement. Although you are not clear about the answer, you gain perspective. You can list down all the possible answers.  Take your time to filter it. Do not rush! If you are lost in life, time becomes meaningless. If you found a direction in life, you can always optimize your time and energy to go in that direction. You understand yourself better. In this process, we can know what you want in life. You are more willing to work hard because we have a strong intention to achieve it. You work hard actively and not passively.

        Imagine that if you are struggling at work, you are wasted your life! I understand that some of us fear to change because of risk. Bear in mind that every action needs pay for the price. It is depending on what you are willing to lose and what you want to gain in life. It is a trade-off process. We cannot be greedy to perfect all aspects of our life.  Take action according to your ability and appreciate every day of life.  Don't influence by the negative judgment from society. You must be brave to confront it and overcome it. 

    Moreover, we can ask ourselves questions when we encounter the greatest pain in life. For example, betrayal of  your best friend, broken marriage, loss of a loved one or you have made a big mistake. All of these unexpected events will make a bad impact on our life. We will close ourselves in a cage that full of sadness and lost the meaning of life.  At this moment, ask yourself the question that can help you to walk up from the pain. 

What are you proudest of?

What have you learned from the mistake?

What is my greatest moment in life? 

What is your belief?

        Ask yourself quietly to discover the new meaning in life. These will help you have the confidence to walk out from the past and continue to  live meaningfully. 

 

     We only live once. Life is not easy provided it is not empty. Don't pursue the comfort of life, try to pursue the life that always has positive pressure.  After you finish reading, try to ask the question about yourself and you will found the motivation in life again!