I know someone who, when he was little, was famous for asking questions.
Especially the “what ifs” – and frequently, questions which stunned us into silence because of their complexity and imagination.
As lofty adults, with busy lives to deal with, but not so lofty that we dared to presume we knew all the answers, an oft-tempted response at that moment he’d broken us down and we could resist no more, of course was, “it just is because I say so!” – but not wanting to stifle his creativity, we never resorted to that.
His best?
Well, he was describing some end-of-world event, some disaster that might happen due to a chain reaction, something that to him in his world, aged 5, was highly probable. Possibly frustrated by the answers his Mum was giving to every scenario he posed, he pulled out of the bag his killer question, a question to end all questions, a question that really did stun:
“. . . ah . . . but what if you had a goldfish in your pocket?”
It’s famous now as a quote in my family, and I love it. It shows his tenacity, his perseverance, and his creativity. And now, he’s got a highly successful job where he gets to be resourceful and creative all day long, and he’s admired, praised and rewarded for it.
How wonderful that he’s been able to put his ideas to good use.
ChristineWilkinsonCoaching 