A Better Question to Ask Yourself...

Everyone seems to ask questions pertaining to "what....?" Like "What should I wear?" "What sport should I try next?" "What should I eat?" I find that this just accomplishes a short-term space-filling band-aid of a solution. 

Instead, I like the question "why?" or "what is the purpose of....?" as a better reason to do things. For example, let's say you've just completed a workout. You want to eat. Many people ask me what they should eat. My first question back to them is "what is your goal?" Once I find out why they're doing things, it's much easier for me to give them an appropriate answer. It's kind of like if someone were to walk up to you, asking for directions, but not tell you where they're going. Of course, you could tell them to go the north route to location A, or you could tell them to go the southern route to location B. You could even tell them to take the scenic route and drive in circles and end up exactly back where they started. None of those answers will be helpful unless you know where they are going. 

Another example: Someone asks if eating apples are good for you. Well, what's your goal?  Are you allergic to apples? How many apples are we talking about? How often are you thinking about eating these apples? What size are these apples? Etc...

Yet another example: "Is running (or X sport) good for you?" What is your purpose for doing this sport? Do you enjoy it? Do you have any pains during or after participating in the sport? Do you have any contraindications for this sport? How often and what are the durations you are doing this sport? Etc...

So many questions to ask in order to answer one "simple" question.

I used to hate running. I had to do it, though, because my taekwondo coach made us. After I broke my back, I couldn't train taekwondo anymore. Running became one of the few things I could do at that time. I learned to like it. I ended up doing it because I enjoyed it. Now I don't do it because I don't enjoy it anymore. Simple as that. But if someone were to ask me what I thought of running, my answer won't be a "good" or "bad." It would be something more in the lines of "it depends."

Every once in a while, I like to do a check up of myself, and ask myself why I do the things I'm doing. My answers may vary from day to day, or from year to year. My answers may also vary from other people's answers for doing the exact same things. But whatever my answer is at that time, it will be the driving force for my actions. My reasons will carve my path. Everyone has a different history/background that will shape their various purposes in life. Even if we're all doing the same thing, many of us have different reasons for doing so. It's easy to get caught up in the mainstream reasons (read: trendy/popular), but if your beliefs and reasons are different, then stay true to yourself. You'll accomplish what you, not others, wanted, and you won't feel like a sell out or having short-changed yourself.