Day 102 (April 12 2010) 50 questions that will free your mind

1. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?
Ken: 25

Mel: 30

2. Which is worse, failing or never trying?

Ken and Mel: Never Trying

3. If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?

Mel: I do things for other people. If I did everything that I just wanted to do it would be selfish. I think we also do these things for our future, ie: kids. We want to have a better life for them.

Ken: the pressure of society

4. When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?

Mel: Probably

Ken: I hope not

5. What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?

Ken: The fact that we have to spend more time working than playing.

Mel: poverty, the fact that everything costs so much money.

6. If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?

Ken: Weightlifting

Mel: I would probably continue doing what I do, but I would do it for 6 months a year and then take 6 months off.

7. Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?

Ken: currently settling, but I am in the process of making changes towards my future goals.

Mel: Doing what I believe in.

8. If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?

Ken: I wouldn’t

Mel: travel more

9. To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?

Ken: All of it

Mel: I believe that there is a balance between fate and creating your own destiny. For example, I went to University not really having a clear idea about what I wanted to do with my life but through different classes and experiences I figured out that I really liked the field I was studying and I could make of it what I wanted. Fate has definitely played a part in my life like when I met my husband but I also believe that I met him at that time because I was ready to meet him and settle down. If I had met him a few years earlier I might have passed him by.

10. Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?

Ken: doing things right

Mel: doing the right things

11. You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire. They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend. The criticism is distasteful and unjustified. What do you do?

Ken: Tell them to $%&# off and leave it alone.

Mel: I would stop the conversation very quickly and tell them that they should know that her and I are friends and its okay for them to feel like that but I am uncomfortable being there when they are talking about her.

12. If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be?

Ken: Learn what you love early and stay with it.

Mel: Trust your instincts! Usually when things go wrong for me it is because I am trying to spare someone’s feelings or just go with the flow (ie: group decision ) and so I don’t listen to my instincts. I always kick myself after when I am saying “I knew that was going to happen, I should have said something!”.

13. Would you break the law to save a loved one

Ken: yes

Mel: YES!!

14. Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?

Ken: In music

Mel: all the time, I work with kids!

15. What’s something you know you do differently than most people?

Ken: eat healthy and attend the gym on a daily basis

Mel: not sure

16. How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?

Ken: because we are all different

Mel: because not everyone is the same

17. What one thing have you not done that you really want to do? What’s holding you back?

Ken: Join MMA gym but it is very expensive.

Mel: Get my Masters degree………money is holding me back.

18. Are you holding onto something you need to let go of?

Ken: no I did that when I was young

Mel: people in my life who have addictions problems and it will never change but I still wish it would. I also resent them for it so I hold on to that too.

19. If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why?

Ken: I would move to Montana because of the small amount of people to the area and they were very nice people.

Mel: back to Saskatchewan

20. Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?

Ken: yes and then no

Mel: yes, I push it more than once and No, I don’t think it will go faster, it just makes me feel productive, lol.

21. Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?

Ken: joyful simpleton

Mel: joyful simpleton

22. Why are you, you?

Ken: I like me and my wife likes me(most of me) haha

Mel: Because I am Assertive! YAY!!!!

23. Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend?

Ken: Yes

Mel: not always, but I am now.

24. Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you?

Ken: Losing touch who lives close to you

Mel: losing touch
25. What are you most grateful for?

Ken: My wife

Mel: My husband and our simple life

26. Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?

Ken: lose old ones

Mel: lose all of my old memories

27. Is is possible to know the truth without challenging it first?

Ken: no

Mel: isn’t that what faith is? I guess for some people it might be possible but not for me.

28. Has your greatest fear ever come true?

Ken: no and I hope it never does

Mel: no, but I worry about it sometimes.

29. Do you remember that time 5 years ago when you were extremely upset? Does it really matter now?

Ken: No but it still bothers me haha

Mel: nope! That is what I always tell people in the anger management groups that I facilitate.

30. What is your happiest childhood memory? What makes it so special?

Ken: Playing hockey on the ice on the farm we lived at, because I was the best player on the ice haha

Mel: I have so many and they all involve family. I remember spending time with my grandparents, watching hockey while laying on the living room floor with my dad, playing WWF with my brothers, building forts with my brother Brent, when my brother Trent got home after a summer away working,

31. At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?

Ken: when I got married and went on our honeymoon.

Mel: After I have a good workout. I have been really consistent with it lately and I am making progress. It feels great!

32. If not now, then when?

Ken: Never if not now

Mel: never I guess?

33. If you haven’t achieved it yet, what do you have to lose?

Ken: nothing

Mel: nothing

34. Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever?

Ken: yes

Mel: yes, that happens a lot with my husband

35. Why do religions that support love cause so many wars?

Ken: because they are different and sometimes different people fight. It just happens to be a large mass of people that believe these things and they do not like each other.

Mel: because people are so passionate about what they believe that they can’t take criticism or be open to other ideas. They will defend their ideas as being right no matter what.

36. Is it possible to know, without a doubt, what is good and what is evil?

Ken: No because without one you would not know the other. If there was no cold you would not know how to gage heat.

Mel: only for those people who truly have faith. I don’t so I will always question that.

37. If you just won a million dollars, would you quit your job?

Ken: Yes and go to school and get a career without the worries of finances and concentrate on school.

Mel: probably not. I might try to do something like my job part time though, or take a couple months of holidays a year instead of just 3 weeks.

38. Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing?

Ken: more work that I actually enjoy doing

Mel: I like my work so just like I said in #37 it would be nice to have a bit less to do though.

39. Do you feel like you’ve lived this day a hundred times before?

Ken: yes I have asked myself these questions a hundred times before in my head and with my friends growing up.

Mel: nope

40. When was the last time you marched into the dark with only the soft glow of an idea you strongly believed in?

Ken: 2 years ago when I started my own company.

Mel: When I went to Korea without knowing a word of the language. I just knew that I needed a new experience.

41. If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today?

Ken: no but I might call some of them to let them know.

Mel: Just my husband. I would want to spend every second with him that I could. If I tried to see everyone else then I wouldn’t have enough time to spend with any of them.

42. Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?

Ken: no

Mel: NO WAY!

43. What is the difference between being alive and truly living?

Ken: to live on the edge i.e. extreme sports and the other is to merely exist

Mel: Doing a 365 day challenge of course!

44. When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right?

Ken: All the time

Mel: We should live like that all the time.

45. If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?

Ken: because of our pride

Mel: because we might hurt others in the process

46. What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?

Ken: nothing I so not care if people judge me except my mother and wife.

Mel: I can’t think of anything.

47. When was the last time you noticed the sound of your own breathing?

Ken: last night when I went to bed and actually this morning at the gym because I got a bit heavy.

Mel: yesterday at my BodyFlow class we did a relaxation exercise at the end of the class. They told me to pay attention to my breathing and listen to it to see if it was shallow or deep.

48. What do you love? Have any of your recent actions openly expressed this love?

Ken: I love my wife, everyday I try to help with dinner or helping with the lunches, and just calling her or texting an I love you

Mel: I love my husband and my cats. I tell him I love him all the time. I give them all hugs and kisses……yes, even the cats, the just love the hugs, lol.

49. In 5 years from now, will you remember what you did yesterday? What about the day before that? Or the day before that?

Ken: Some of the days I will remember because I lift weights and I remember when I hit a milestone and most of the time if I think about it, it sometimes feels like yesterday

Mel: Well, since we are blogging our entire year this year I will be able to look at that and see but in an average year, no I wouldn’t have a clue.

50. Decisions are being made right now. The question is: Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you?

Ken: I am making them for myself with my wife in mind.

Mel: both


Ken and I had a bit of a debate about this activity. I won't tell you who thought what but I will tell you about the debate so you can give us your opinons on our poll on the side of this page.
The debate is, would it be okay to answer questions 1-25 on one day and then questions 26-50 on another day and count them as two different activities since they are different questions.  Here is another example: What if we were to take an art class over a span of 3 days and one day we learned some techniques then the next day we learned different techniques and the third day we made our finished product.  Could we count all three of those days as our activity for each day or should we only count that once?
We are interested in knowing your opinions on this project.