Why?

In my kingdom, I try very hard not to start a question with the word "why". Why, you ask?

Well, why questions tend to carry with them a certain amount of judgment. Often, it's subtle, but it's there. Even when our intentions are pure, asking a why question can put others on the defensive. If you try to eliminate why questions from your arsenal of phrases, you'll soon find that the responses you get are more thorough and less reactive.

That said, I stumbled across a why question today from someone who shares my view on why questions. The question was just a general "why?" with regard to the tragedy in Colorado.

Sometimes, all we really can do is wonder why... which is slightly different from asking a why question of someone else. Silently pondering why things are the way they are is important and helps shape the lens through which we view our worlds.

What happened in Colorado is a terrible, heartbreaking tragedy. There will never be an answer to the question "why?", at lest not one that is satisfactory or that makes sense. This, of course, makes "why?" not a great question, even just from an "I wonder..." perspective.

But, in a world where ugliness drives the headlines, we have to recognize that for every tragedy we are shown, there are many more triumphs. Sometimes, we just need to look longer and harder to find them.