Questions Can Be True Gifts

"A sudden bold and unexpected question doth many times surprise a man and lay him open."
                                  --- Sir Francis Bacon

I sometimes have difficulty realizing what my true gifts are. I suppose that's a common enough problem, but as I've focused on marketing my skills the last couple of years to make additional income to pay off medical bills, it has become essential that I figure those things out.


Good friends have been a God-send, helping me identify things I could market. It was at the urging of friends I started helping people with social networking, which has developed into something very positive. Friends have also reinforced things I already knew I was good at - like writing.

One of the things friends and others repeatedly tell me I'm good at is asking questions that help them figure things out. Sometimes it's just a different way to look at something, sometimes it's a question that gives them reason to consider something that wasn't even in their consciousness. Although I spent a few years asking questions for a living as a journalist, I never thought I was particularly better at it than others. I did think I was better at listening than most.

But I've come to realize I do ask probing questions that have real impact on people. So, I'm wondering if this is a service I can provide. I'm not sure what one calls this, but it does seem to be a talent I have. I'm mulling it over. Perhaps I need to ask myself some more questions.

When I ran across the above quote tonight I realized laying people open allows them to find their truth. It's already in them, it just needs to be freed. The same could be said of myself.