Have you noticed how some people are compelled to come up with answers to every question they hear, even those spoken aloud to ones own self and does not need one? A question will hardly have rolled off your tongue (or not) before you get to hear their opinion on it. Sometimes it need not take the form of a question at all, just an observation you make, or a statement of intention, which these hearers automatically convert to a question (a compulsion, perhaps?), so they can get down to solving it for you. Then there are those who cannot recognize a joke. Woe betide if you happen to ask a tongue-in-cheek question of anyone, even your own self, in their presence. The next thing you know, about a minimum of 10 solutions will be laid out for you in all seriousness, and that for something you never ever asked in the first place.

For all those who see Seekers of Answers all around them and feel compelled to offer solutions (and also those who assume everything in hearing to be questions aimed at them for their ‘valued’(!) opinion), I have this:

Not every question you hear requires an immediate response. Some are intended to swirl in your mind and bring to the surface new realizations when the dust finally settles. Others leave a door invitingly open to explore the mind of the one who asked the question. Yet others are asked in a lighter vein, meant to be enjoyed, not answered. If you feel compelled to give your opinion each time a question is asked, you will miss all these opportunities. #shailism

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©Shail Mohan 2014