Question 1: Describe a significant experience that has happened in the past year. How did it affect you? Are you grateful? Relieved? Resentful? Inspired?
Hey 10Q-ers,
Welcome to 10Q day 1. If you’ve never done it before, 10Qers of years past will tell you, the experience hits on several levels. Just pondering a question and writing down an answer can be a satisfying experience in the moment, and sometimes in ways that aren’t immediately apparent. Couple that with what you’ll get when you receive your answers back next year, and then fast forward ten years, and suddenly you’ll have a lovely slice of your last decade. Perfect for self reflection, perfect for sharing with those you love, if you so wish. So, while we live in a super fast paced world and sometimes the prospect of slowing down and going inside for even fifteen minutes or so fills us with fear, take the leap, schedule the time and just see what comes. It may surprise you. And it might be one of the best things you’ve done all week.
And so to the first question, what was a significant experience in your life this past year? Looking at the answers from the past few years of 10Q, it’s clear that this question means very different things to different people. Last year, one person shared, “My father decided to retire from farming earlier than we anticipated. I am partly grateful and relieved as his safety was worrying me, but I also concerned about how he will fill his days without driving my mother barmy.” People also tackled life and death issues: “My first real boyfriend died in a motorcycle accident. It was hard to get past, it still is hard to get past, but somehow every morning I wake up and get through the day.” Sometimes the most significant experiences were the small ones that illustrated something bigger, as in the following entry: “I learned how to ride a bike, and I’m 15. I did it with the help of my best friend, not my parents or sister. I felt fully independent, no helmet, around and around the court. Looking back on it, I felt so strong.” Sometimes, the significant event was the fact that nothing significant occurred at all. Then you have to ask yourself, are you ok with that? Do you need to push yourself in any way to create more significant events in your life or do you simply need to re-frame the way you are looking at your life? So, take a moment today and ask yourself to ponder something that happened in your world over the past year and ask yourself what it meant to you? Often pondering how you reacted to a certain situation is as important as the actual experience at hand.