I have this theory about life. I believe that everyone is either a “why” or a “why not” person. But I have a lot of theories that make sense in my head but leave other people scratching theirs, so allow me to explain.

Why people are very risk averse. They require it to be proven why something should be done before they take action or commit. Basically, they need the receipts up front. Why people are the kind of folks you want to take with you when you go car shopping. They will give that poor salesperson a workout, but you will not be purchasing anything unless a solid reason is provided and proven. It seems that why people’s main fear is making a mistake.

Why not people are more concerned with having regrets or missing opportunities. Their default is yes, so in a lot of cases, they must be talked out of doing something. At the end of their lives, why not people could look back at their time on earth and say “I did that!”

Of course, like anything, this concept isn’t black and white. I think everyone has a bit of both in them, but in my experience most people fall into one camp the majority of the time. For instance, I am a why not person, but I definitely have my why moments. I feel like people eventually find a good balance for themselves in order to navigate life. For why people, this means learning to stop living in the details all the time and let go more when it comes to little things. For the why nots, they hopefully learn that bigger decisions may require more deliberation and thought. But I do not think that either thought process is better than the other—in fact, both are necessary to keep life balanced and interesting. My why friends have talked me out of some bad moves (what—like you have never thought about professing your love to someone you had never talked to before??), and I have seen why nots convince their friends to push beyond their fear to take chances.

I think that’s the beauty of life—all of us grew up differently in different environments and with various personalities and ways of thinking, but we need each other to give our lives balance.

So what about you? Are you a why or a why not person?

Halloween decision to dress up like a bunch of grapes because…why not?