Curiosity

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.
~ Einstein

If there's one thing that the Siena Heights Sisters taught me, it is to question. Sr. Pat Hogan, in Philosophy of Person, must have asked, "Why?" once a minute in every class. Sr. Mary Louise Hall taught me to prove points that I didn't even believe. Sr. Pat Schnapp raised her left fist with an "Aha!" when we took an idea a step farther.

When someone does something to you or against you, it's not necessarily what it seems. Think about the why. Curiosity will take you farther than yourself. The why is usually all about someone else and his own circumstances.

Just like when you get dressed up for a party or for church. No one else is really looking at you (unless of course, you wear the same gray pants every day!); they are all wondering how they look to you. Curiosity brings a better understanding of self while trying to understand others. (Maybe her husband told her that gray pants brings out the gray in her eyes? Maybe her Father wore gray pants to work every day, and it brings her comfort or courage to be like him.) More than likely, gray-pants-girl is not trying to be weird or offensive or anything else to you. She doesn't necessarily want the whole world to join the gray-pants-club, but she would be happy for you if you chose to wear gray pants too. And if she did say how great you'd look in gray pants, maybe just ask yourself why?

Why is a bully a bully? If you ask why, it takes the personal edge off. More than likely, the bully actually has nothing against you. The bully either gets bossed around elsewhere or yelled at by others or some other treatment where they learned their own bullying techniques. They're seeking to get something of themselves back. I feel sorry for them. I don't have to put up with them, but I feel sorry for them. Their bullying me is not about me; it's about them.

Asking "Why?" will bring understanding or not. Perhaps, it will end with another "Why?" which is okay too. Not knowing the answer to every "Why?" is okay. It's the asking that mostly counts. Besides, no answer is an answer. After all, who has all the answers to her own reality?