19 Questions We Should All Ask More Often

We’ve all been there before, the lull in a conversation where it’s someone’s turn to ask a question in order to keep the conversation going. Maybe it’s on a date, maybe it’s with someone you just met, or maybe it’s an old friend that you’ve grown distant from and are trying to reconnect with. Maybe it’s not a lull in the conversation and maybe you’re trying to more deeply understand the core of another but you can’t quite figure out how to go about it. The opportunities for deeper connection and understanding come from the questions you ask. Rather than asking standards like “So, how are you?” or “Where did you grow up?” or “What’s your family like?” here are 19 thought-provoking questions to ask others (and ourselves) more often.

1. What is one of the nicest things someone has ever done for you?
2. Who/what do you love most and what are you doing about it?
3. How do you show yourself that you love yourself?
4. Whose life do you believe you’ve had the biggest impact on?
5. What is home to you?
6. Is there anybody in your life that you would like to forgive, but haven’t?
7. When is silence more meaningful than words?
8. What do you wish you knew?
9. Are there chances you’ve passed up that you wish you’d have taken?
10. When was the last time you lied? Why?
11. What will you never give up on?
12. What is the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?
13. How do you know when it’s time to let go of something or someone?
14. What do you wish someone would ask you?
15. What have you witnessed that has strengthened/weakened your faith in humanity?
16. Are there things that you sometimes pretend you understand, but actually don’t?
17. What big lesson could someone learn from your life?
18. What have you done lately that’s worth remembering?
19. What is the simplest truth you can say with words? 

By Jen Tack (Thought Catalog)