Ask And You Shall Receive
September 24th, 2007 - Jarkko
A few weeks ago I got the idea that I should do interviews with people from different topics. I had never talked to these people before, but I decided to send them e-mail asking if they would be interested in answering a few questions.
They all said yes.
Then I asked Collis Ta’eed if I could write a guest post on NorthxEast.
The next day he sent me a note saying yes. I wrote “Curiosity Killed the Cat but it Helped the Blogger“.
Inspired by Collis’ friendly reply I moved on and asked about guest blogging from an even bigger blog.
I’m starting to write that post this week.
I ask. They say yes.
A few months ago Graham Lutz wrote me about switching posts. I promptly replied: “Of course!”
He wrote the post “A Product of Your Environment” to my blog. I wrote “How To Stand Up For Your Values and Make Fans” for his.
They ask. I say yes.
Of course I have also sent out questions that never got any replies. Not because people wouldn’t want to say yes but because my questions didn’t deserve to be answered.
People are helpful and interested in each others. Even the complete strangers. They want to say yes to your questions, so don’t be afraid to ask. The worst that could happen is a “no”.
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. (Matthew 7:7)
That, my friend, is probably the most important teaching after “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” (Mathew 11:31) from Jesus. So you HIT THE SPOT. :)
It’s surprising how absolutely true this is. All you have to do is ask.
Makes you wonder what kind of things you could ask for in your daily life that could turn into “yesses.”
I’ve seen other “regular” bloggers do interviews with semi-famous people in the past, and I’ve always been impressed that they were granted those opportunities. If I can ever figure out who I want to interview, I’m going to try that myself.
Veera: Thanks!
In this post I’m taking the teaching a bit out of context. Originally Jesus was of course refering to salvation, and not earthly things like asking things from your friends. But it’s funny how it works also in that context.
I guess as people we’re usually interested in each other and want to help out if we can. That’s a really positive thought.
Love your neighbour is another great idea. Thanks for sharing it!
Ravi: It’s a world full of possibilities! I’m actually pretty bad at asking things from people in my everyday life - I’m working on it, and it looks promising. People really say yes to most of your questions.
Jeff: I say, go for it. :) It’s a nice way to get to talk to different people. And at least so far my experience has been that people want to share their thoughts.
Of course I haven’t been interviewing any really / semi famous person yet so I don’t know if their reactions would be different. But I doubt it :)
And if you have not read it already, The Aladdin Factor is a great book.
As we both work in the same part of the town again, would you have lunch with me some day?
Lynoure: No, I haven’t read the book yet. Sounds interesting :)
And yes, let’s have lunch. Where do you usually go here in Ruoholahti? And when should we do it? Next Monday?
Hima and sali is nice. Monday is fine. Email me with the time? I’ll bring the book with me.