Thought of the Day and Question of the Day: Faith in Others and the Faces We Make

September 14, 2025

Every day, I share a Thought of the Day and Question of the Day not just to toss words into the void, but to make us pause and look at life a little differently. Today’s pair works beautifully together. The thought challenges us to rethink how we “help” people, and the question… well, it forces us to admit what we probably look like when our patience finally snaps. Let’s dig in.

Thought of the Day:

“What if the greatest gift we could give someone wasn’t our well-intentioned wisdom, but our faith in theirs?” — Bernadette Jiwa

I’ll admit it, I’m a fixer. If someone comes to me with a problem, my brain immediately starts scanning for solutions like a grocery store price gun. “Here’s what you should do.” “Oh, have you tried this?” “Let me show you the shortcut.”

It comes from a good place, but, sometimes it’s less about helping and more about proving I know how to help. That’s a hard pill to swallow.

Jiwa’s words remind me that people don’t always need our wisdom. Sometimes they just need our confidence that they already have what it takes. Faith in someone else is like a quiet push from behind, it doesn’t look like much, but it can be the difference between stopping and stepping forward.

I think about my kids here. When Blaise or Daisy asks me how to build something out of Legos, my instinct is to grab the pieces and show them the “right way.” But if I sit back and say, “I know you’ll figure it out,” they almost always do, and the grin on their face when it finally clicks is ten times bigger than if I’d handed them the answer.

This thought also connects to how we treat each other as adults. We love giving unsolicited advice (I’m guilty), but rarely do we pause and just say, “I trust you to find your own way.” Maybe the best wisdom we can offer isn’t advice at all, but belief.

If this idea resonates, you might also enjoy when I wrote about why people don’t want you to do better than them and instead of condemning people, trying to understand them.

Question of the Day:

“What does your face look like when you’re angry?”

This one made me laugh out loud, because honestly, I don’t know. Do I have a scary face when I’m angry, or do I look like a toddler who just dropped his ice cream cone?

If you’ve ever seen yourself in a car window mid-road-rage, you know the horror of catching your reflection. What felt like a righteous warrior glare often comes across more like a confused duck.

For me, I think my angry face is a mix of clenched jaw, tight lips, and furrowed brow. But what makes me laugh is how different it looks in my kids. Daisy’s angry face is all scrunched-up nose and puffed cheeks, it’s almost too cute to take seriously. Blaise tries hard to look serious, but his eyes give him away. Estella? Her angry face is basically just yelling without sound, her whole body gets in on it.

The truth is, most of us probably look ridiculous when we’re angry. And maybe that’s the point. If we could see ourselves the way others do in those heated moments, maybe we’d simmer down a little faster. Imagine pausing mid-argument, realizing you look like a pouting cartoon character, and laughing instead of yelling.

Anger isn’t bad, it’s human. But how we wear it on our faces might just be the reminder we need that we’re not as intimidating as we think. Sometimes the best way to defuse anger is to recognize the comedy of it.

If you like this style of reflection, check out my take on why it’s better to hear voices than be deaf as a post—a post that blends seriousness with humor, just like this question does.

Your Turn

What about you? Do you know what your angry face looks like, or has someone else had to tell you? And do you find it harder to offer advice, or to simply have faith in someone else’s ability? Drop a comment below and let’s compare notes.

And if you’d like to get these reflections in your inbox each morning, both the Thought of the Day and Question of the Day—join the free daily email here.