1. What are your dreams? Sit down with a cup of coffee--or a glass of wine--and allow some silence. Smile warmly. Ask this question with no elaboration--don't mess it up with other words. Then wait.

2. What would you say has been the happiest day of your life? (and, Why did you choose that day?) Think of this question as the start of a much longer conversation. Why did they choose that particular day? What other days have been happy ones? What is happiness, for them, anyway? Is it the same thing as joy or contentment? Allow an hour at least!

3. Can you tell me about your plans? We are all so FULL of our own plans. Our own priorities. Our own goals. Our own stories. Ask this about anything: The other person's career, their upcoming vacation, their weekend. Instead of talking about your plans--or what you think the other person's plans should be—ask this question and just listen. 

4. What do you think about...(this idea, news event, etc.)? You'd be surprised how many people are never or rarely asked these four words. They can unleash a marvelous conversation--and help you make a warm connection.

5. What do you wish you could spend more time on each week? Less time? I like this question because it gets the other person talking about what they really love and enjoy in their lives. And I get to know them so much better after they answer.

6. Can you tell me something about yourself that I don’t already know--and that might surprise me? This question can reveal surprising, even astonishing things about someone you thought you knew well. A friend of mine once answered this by telling me "I spent a night in jail in Lubbock, Texas." Someone else said, "I rode on Air Force One with President Lyndon Johnson."  Yet a third revealed they had been jilted the day before their planned wedding!

7. Right now, what are you most passionate or excited about in your life? This is what I call a "Passion Question." When you tap into people's passions, they come alive and the conversation comes alive. All of a sudden you're not just chit-chatting about mindless trivia. You're talking about the stuff that lights us on fire!

8. What would you say gives you the most fulfillment in your life? This comes at passion from a slightly different angle than the previous question. Maybe the answer will be the same. Maybe not. But a conversation about what fulfills us in our lives is always a rich and rewarding one.

9. What are you doing this week that I could help you with or support you on? Even if the answer is nothing, you'll make the other person feel supported and loved. If there is something--well, it's a good day when you can identify how to help someone else. Remember, "from everyone to whom much is given, much shall be required." Maybe you can run an errand for your spouse. Or help a friend with an unpleasant task. It could be that simple.

10. Can I share with you the reasons why I love you so much? (or, value you so much as a friend?; or, enjoy spending time with you?; or, am so proud of you?; etc.) Think this one through beforehand. Really ponder it. One of the greatest gifts you can give someone--a spouse, a child, a friend--is to share with them why you think they are so special. Why you treasure them. Why you love being around them. This one is powerful--go for it.

“Life is bittersweet. It is bittersweet because nothing stays the same forever on earth. Anytime an experience or relationship is going great, we want it to never end. But even if we try, we cannot keep change from happening. Everything changes with time.

I’ll never forget when I moved off to college, feeling the loss both my parents and I felt, yet knowing I couldn’t live at home forever. It was bittersweet. I’ll never forget officiating at my daughter Amy’s wedding, knowing that her allegiance to me as 'the man in her life' was now transferring to her husband. It was good thing, and the right thing to do, but it was bittersweet. I’ll never forget when Glen Kreun told me it was time for someone else to take his place of leadership after serving faithfully by my side for decades. That was bittersweet, too.

While all of us want to grow, we don’t like the ‘letting go of the familiar’ part of growth. But the truth is, there is no growth without change, there is no change without loss, and there is no loss without pain and grief. That’s what makes life bittersweet.”

~ Rick Warren

Here are six great questions to ask yourself regularly:

- Today, did I do my best to be happy?

- Today, did I do my best to find meaning?

- Today, did I do my best to be engaged?

- Today, did I do my best to serve the people I’m here to serve?

- Today, did I do my best to love the people I’m here to love?

- Today, did I do my best to build my most important relationships?

Material from Marshall Goldsmith.

“Cowardice keeps us double-minded – hesitating between the world and God. In this hesitation, there is no true faith – faith remains an opinion. We are never certain, because we never quite give in to the authority of an invisible God. This hesitation is the death of hope. We never let go of those visible supports which, we well know, must one day surely fail us. And this hesitation makes true prayer impossible – it never quite dares to ask anything, or if it asks, it is so uncertain of being heard that in the very act of asking, it surreptitiously seeks by human prudence to construct a make-shift answer.”

Thomas Merton, reflecting on James 1:5-8