Searching For The Big And Little Answers

Many spend a lifetime searching for the answers to the big questions in life.

Where do I find love? How do I know the truth? What is the meaning of life?

I have the big questions nailed.  It’s the small ones that keep popping up.

Big Questions In Life:

Here are my answers to the big questions. Maybe it will save you some time.

Love Timesaving Tip:

Logon to Plenty of Fish and chat with other searchers. The first question you should ask is “Are you married?” If the answer is “Yes” tell him to turn off the computer and go talk with his wife. If the answer is “No” then you can continue with other questions like “What are your hobbies?” Eventually you’ll find someone who lives within commuting distance with common interests who will become the love of your life. It worked for me. It can work for you.

Truth Timesaving Tip:

Truth is a deduction. Not everyone will tell you the truth, but it’s inside clawing to get out. Tone of voice and body language comprise the code. Your gut is the code breaker. You might want to test your inklings of falsehoods with pointed questions like “Hmmm, if you didn’t eat my last piece of Lou Malnati’s pizza, why is the take out box in the recycling?” This is preferable to chanting, “Liar, liar pants on fire” while waving the empty plastic container.

Meaning of Life Timesaving Tip:

Be kind to nature, value friends and family, and own a dog. Then you’ll embrace the meaning of life. I didn’t come up with this myself. It was an inspirational quote on Facebook. I think I saw it on Pinterest, too.

Little Questions In Life:

The little questions in life are challenging for me to answer. Even after I find the answers, it’s not over. They need to be answered multiple times- sometimes in the same  day.

Where are my keys? Where is the TV remote? Where are the photos of the caution signs in Ireland that I found humorous? (Still looking for those!)

We spend ten minutes a day, two and a half days a year, or one hundred and fifty-three days of our lives searching for these items. (No need to check my calculations. I know they are correct because I read it on the Internet.)

These small searches become urgent when needing to drive to the Dairy Queen for a chocolate dipped cone or wanting to hear HBO’s John Oliver’s latest take on the news or inaccurately describing the comical Irish caution sign featuring a stylized human climbing a wall with stylized rocks falling towards his head.

Here are a few of my recent hunts for the small answers that ended successfully.

 

Sunglasses:

While shooting photos on a recent hike Mike stopped and turned to me with a desperate expression. I answered the classic “Where are my sunglasses?” question with the classic “On your head” answer.

Jigsaw Puzzle Piece:

 

 

Upon closer inspection of a jigsaw puzzle partially solved, I realized what I originally thought were mallard duck feathers were actually dragonfly wings.  I blame it on a bossy right hemisphere. (See Post 54, “Puzzling And The Bickering Brain”.

iPhone:

 

I successfully found my iPhone all three times I lost it on Sunday. I alternated my recovery method between calling my number with the landline and listening for buzzing since my cell was in the “Silent” mode and using the “Find My iPhone” app. (I included a photo of a landline phone for my younger readers to aid their comprehension of this passage.)

Tomatoes:

 

The tomatoes I purchased to use as inspiration for writing Post 56, “The Nonsense Chronicles: Spying on Tomatoes” were on the verge of demise. Having developed a bond with these fruity vegetables during our photo shoot, I felt an allegiance and wanted their time here on earth to end well. I scoured cookbooks and decided upon “Roasted Tomatoes.” However, this didn’t completely resolve the tomatoes going bad issue since roasted tomatoes are more of an ingredient than an entrée. So now I’m searching for recipes that use roasted tomatoes.

Blog Post Topic:

Halfway through the week I hadn’t figured out a topic for my post. Anxiety crept towards me as the question “What will you write about?” remained unanswered.

Ironic, I thought, I have the big questions in life answered and not this pesky little one- and then I did.