If You Don't Know, What Are You Going to Do About It?

Recently, I had to admit a very hard thing to myself -

I’ve relied on others to give me information instead of asking for myself.

Think about how prevalent this is…

• We are taught to rely on teachers to tell us what we need to know

• We are told by our healthcare system what is best for our bodies

• We are fed information from the media and government and expected to believe it

Now, take a step back and see how so much information fed to us can leave us in a position of having very little time, knowledge or energy to sift through it all…and actually question it.

Is what I heard that person say true?

Why are they saying it in the first place?

I wonder why they feel that way?

Seriously, how many times do you wish you could have had that composure during a heated moment with a loved one?

Instead of reacting to words and information, what if we responded with compassion and a desire to learn the person behind the words that are hurting us in the moment?

For a long time, I used the excuse, “I didn’t know.”

“I didn’t know you felt that way…”

“I didn’t know you thought that…”

“I didn’t know I could ask you because I thought it was up for you to tell me…”

Now, I’m getting brave and am learning to ask the tough questions.

Questions that help me be more connected to the core of another even when my feelings are hurting.

Questions that help me understand the other person on the other end of the email,

Instagram message, Facebook comment or phone line so I can serve them better.

Being informed gives us power to show up in relationships, on the job, in our business -

but we have to take responsibility for the learning.

Ask the hard questions because we are here to learn in the first place.

Sage On,

Caitlin