What’s Not Wrong With Your Life?

This summer, the National Millennial/GenZ Community organized a trip to Portland, Oregon. About 30 members from the community attended the trip. The first night in Portland, Bill Imada, the co-founder of the National Millennial/GenZ Community, organized a few bonding activities for the group.

At the end of the night, we headed to ComedySportz (CSz) Improv. There, one of the group bonding activities was choosing a partner and asking them questions. One of the questions was, “What’s not wrong with your life?” When I heard this question, I took a minute to think about it. I had never had such a unique question. I smiled, then took a minute to reflect on what the question was asking.

This question wasn’t the typical, “Hi, how are you doing?” question that you can answer with a short, “good, how about yourself?” This question made you think about the things that were right in your life and the things you were grateful for. I thought to myself, imagine replacing the usual, “Hi, how are you doing?” with “What’s not wrong with your life?” The answers to those questions are very different. There is a shift of mindset that occurs when you get asked, “What’s not wrong with your life?”

This question focuses on changing the topic. It pushes you to reflect on what you are grateful for. We had to ask each other this question ten times. What I found interesting was the range of answers. Initially, the answers were the most important things we were grateful for, such as I am healthy, but it eventually got down to the small things we were grateful for, such as the beautiful weather we all experienced that day.

This exercise made me reflect on how much we tend to focus on the day-to-day activities, the stress, or all the things we have yet to complete. We overlook the small things that go right in our day and the things we are grateful for in our life.

If you think about it, there are many things to be grateful for. It all just requires a shift of mindset. Remember that everything is temporary. The stress, the meetings, and even the assignments that are due will not last forever. So take a moment to think about what you are grateful for and start to incorporate questions that require a more genuine answer when you greet others. Imagine how interesting your conversations could be and what you can learn from someone! Be positive, be grateful, be curious, but most importantly, take the initiative to start a conversation!