Which is worse, failing or never trying?

Last month I answered to 28 Provoking Questions from the list of 365. As this month has 31 days, I’ll answer to 31 more questions. I hope you don’t find the post too long, there are a lot of questions.

01. When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?
I hope I would have said as much as it was necessary and also I hope I would have done as much as it was necessary.

02. If you had the opportunity to get a message across to a large group of people, what would your message be?
Eat your veggies! Just joking, I don’t know, why is there a large group of people, maybe they are gathered to talk about something else and me mentioning veggies would be strange.

03. If the average human lifespan was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?
I can’t answer this question. I chose to live my life considering my lifespan is 70-80, so my choices reflected that. The whole world would have been different with a lifespan of 40, like it was a couple of hundred years ago.

04. What do we all have in common besides our genes that makes us human?
We have so many things in common, even when we don’t agree, the “why” behind our actions can be the same.

05. Which is worse, failing or never trying?
Those Facebook memes aren’t always right. It depends on why someone would like to try or should try and, of course, the thing they are thinking of trying. Never trying sky diving is better than failing at it, isn’t it?
Although trying to hand feed the wild geese is a great idea, do try it.

06. If you could choose one book as a mandatory read for all high school students, which book would you choose?
I asked my husband his opinion, what I would say and he said exactly the book that I would choose. I prefer not to say which one because it’s not a novel and the reason to pick that one isn’t exactly to promote it.

07. Would you rather have less work or more work you actually enjoy doing?
I love my work, so I think more work that I enjoy is what I’m looking for. Even with less work, if you don’t enjoy what you are doing, it still is a big part of your life.

08. What is important enough to go to war over?
We humans, as a race, think that religion, territory, resources and injustice are good reasons to go to war over. I have strong feelings about some of those things, not sure if enough to start a war. Killing someone so the rest of their people understands the “error of their ways” doesn’t seem like a particularly humane idea. Although, those lines get blurred if that person kills, tortures and oppresses some of their co-nationals due to their religion (or lack of), their political views or their sexuality.

09. When was the last time you listened to the sound of your own breathing?
I don’t do that, unless I’m exercising and I try not to exaggerate without using a heart rate monitor.

10. What’s something you know you do differently than most people?
A few things. I’m vegetarian and most people aren’t. I cook at home from scratch at least once each day for me, my husband and sometimes for the dog, while most people in UK aren’t, according to a statics made by food.gov.uk in 2014. I also love statics and I assume that most people aren’t. Most Brits want to go on holiday in Spain while for me Iceland and Norway would be preferred destinations abroad. I can go on and on about things I do or think differently about.

11. What does ‘The American Dream’ mean to you?
Big house and a white picked fence, like in the movies.

12. Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?
This is one of the easiest questions to answer. A worried genius is my answer. I want to know what is around me, I want to know the reasons behind the actions.

13. If you could instill one piece of advice in a newborn baby’s mind, what advice would you give?
How can I be sure that my advice would help that child? Any advice would impair its free will, so I wouldn’t give any advice.

14. What is the most desirable trait another person can possess?
Beauty, other things can be learned to a certain degree.

15. What are you most grateful for?
I think Stephen Hawking said it better in Grand Design: “We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe and for that I am extremely grateful.”

16. Is stealing to feed a starving child wrong?
Stealing from whom? Is that the only option? What will this action teach the child?

17. What do you want most?
Tolerance.

18. Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?
I think we all should be worried about doing the right things right.

19. What has life taught you recently?
That I shouldn’t be so hard on myself when it comes to, well, everything. I tend to have high expectations and get annoyed if one day I forgot to schedule my links on twitter. Or, even worse, after something is done I think that I should have thought of the outcome even before it started… but it doesn’t work like that. Look at what happened with La la land at the Oscars, my twitter feed doesn’t seem like a big problem after that.

20. What is the one thing you would most like to change about the world?
Making people more responsible, I think this would make all of us more tolerant and thoughtful to each other, more ready to help, more inclined to recycle and so on.

21. Where do you find inspiration?
When I blog I’m not looking for inspiration, as I blog about my life, so I can’t find ideas anywhere else. But sometimes I find interesting topics by other bloggers and I’m inspired by them. As is this list of questions, I saw it on Danielle’s blog underlandtowonderland.
When I’m cooking I’m not looking for something in particular. I might get inspired by the ingredients I already have. I also read cookbooks and food blogs and that helps me get ideas too.
In my work I get inspired by trends, fashion, art, nature, even by reading biographies.

22. Can you describe your life in a six word sentence?
My life can make me happy.

23. If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?
I think it would be great to succeed at every single thing we try, but it’s not possible. I think I’m afraid because every mistake has its consequences.

24. What impact do you want to leave on the world?
Why would I want to leave an impact on the world? What’s wrong with leaving no trace? Our world would look so much better if more people were concerned with leaving no marks.

25. What is the most defining moment of your life thus far?
Moving to the UK. It gave me a different perspective and it changed my life in more ways than I imagined. It came at a moment when I was ready for that change.

26. In the haste of your daily life, what are you not seeing?
I think I see pretty good around me. The job we decide to have, the lifestyle we chose to have, all have an impact on our life. I used to live in haste, now I take my time, it’s only a matter of choice.

27. If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?
I don’t. I try to do as little things that I don’t like as I can, this is why I got a dishwasher.

28. What lifts your spirits when life gets you down?
There are many things that lift my spirits, like walking with the dog or playing with him. I also try to focus on the positives on my blog and that helps me too.

29. Have you ever regretted something you did not say or do?
Of course I did, I think we all do. After 30 minutes or a couple of days, things look more clearer and it’s easier to think of an answer that was even more witty.

30. Has your greatest fear ever come true?
Yes. I think this makes me stronger, because I passed through what I though would be the worse thing that can happen.

31. Why do we think of others the most when they’re gone?
I don’t do that.
I was 19 when I lost a very close friend to cancer. He was only 20 and he battled cancer for a couple of years. I remember vividly when he died, I was on the waiting area after seeing him. I remember the nurses talking about him and stopping when they saw me, the day before. All those things had an impact on me, as one can imagine. I do think of the loved ones, even if I didn’t see them for a while.