In my almost 20 years of existence, I have only recently started asking questions. I don’t know if it’s because I was just scared of knowing the answers or what, but it’s a recent revelation. Asking questions is one of the most important ways to progress in this life, and not asking them out of fear of the truth is one way to guarantee you stay where you are. Maybe you like where you are, but does that mean it’s good to stay there?

Imagine a world where everyone was unconditionally vulnerable and honest. Imagine if you never walked away from a conversation wishing you had asked the questions you desperately wanted the answer to. You won’t suffer more or less sadness and frustration; you will suffer it sooner. You will know, and that's preferable to not knowing even though sometimes it doesn’t seem like it. Finding out you didn’t get a job or that someone will never feel the same way you feel about them or that you failed a test - those things all suck. However, the sooner you know those things, the sooner you move on.

The truth is not something to be afraid of, because it exists regardless of whether or not you know about it. If a person doesn’t love you back, you may not ever hear those words exactly. You may never hear from them again, or you may come home to an empty side of the room. You may even get married and divorce years later. Regardless, it was always true that they didn't feel the same. You just found out later. In our previously discussed imaginary world, you could have saved yourself some valuable time to love someone else.

I sound a little negative, so let me be clear that truth isn't always something to be scared of. It's just that positive truth is easier to say, and you don't always have to ask anything to find it. It's easier to tell someone they got a job, that their relative made it through surgery or that you love them too. It's easy to watch someone light up like there is nothing in the world that can dull their excitement. It's so blissfully easy that it makes you forget that there was ever a time where you were scared of answers.

The takeaway here is that questions are like keys; they unlock doors to a future where you never have to wonder. They have sparked intellectuals to understand things we never could believe existed. When we’re toddlers, we question everything; we are so curious about the world around us and we have no reason to not ask “Why?” I think that’s beautiful. I wish there was never an age where curiosity and the pursuit of truth became less appealing.

Question everything and, I beg you, never stop being curious. And who knows, maybe the answer is everything you could have wanted.