Do you consider yourself a curious person?
I suppose simply asking yourself the question suggests that on some level you are.
Curiosity opens doors to opportunity when we allow ourselves to ask the burning questions but yet so many of us are reluctant to speak.
I've been reading a great self help book about the wealth of connection (by Vince Pugliese) which suggested that curiosity becomes less and less socially acceptable the more we age.
Think about it. A child has 101 questions to ask before breakfast, some interesting, some not so much. Once they start school, irrelevant questions about the world become less accepted, unless they are about the specific topic covered in class. When the same children reach secondary school they ask less and less, and become more aware of their social standing instead.
As adults, how often have you come across people in your life that ask questions? I'm not just talking the "how are you" or "what have you been up to?" variety but questions to delve deeper into the conversation.
Within the book I mentioned above, the author wrote about how a conversation revolved around how a person had no time to visit the gym and the curious person asked why. The conversation developed further. They asked, "why don't you have time for the gym?'
The response was simple: "it's not really that, I guess. I have time, I'm just so busy with the kids, with work, that I don't really know where to fit it in."
The curious one continued, "why can't you work out first thing in the morning before the kids get up?"
"Ugh. Yeah, I know that's probably the thing to do. I haven't made it a priority or created a schedule to make it happen. I do know that when I was more structured, I was able to work out and read a little before the kids got up."
Suddenly the conversation went from not having enough time to a real answer to their problem. The person felt really seen and listened to and the conversation could have easily led into 'how' questions such as "how can you stick to your schedule?"
The point I'm trying to make is that curiosity is a good thing. It helps us to grow, to learn, and often it creates opportunities we wouldn't have had before.
The beauty of curiosity is that it requires no special skill, we already have the inquisitiveness within, just waiting to emerge.
When we allow ourselves to ask questions, regardless of how society has treated curiosity, we become naturally more interesting people. Have you ever spoken to someone so self involved, who talks only about themselves, and found yourself feeling bored or uninterested? They could have the most interesting of lives but somehow, the selfishness and lack of two way conversation has made the person feel dull and a little lifeless.
Now imagine speaking to someone who asks questions. They keep you engaged and thinking, maybe even of things you hadn't thought of before. You ask questions back and learn things about that person that they maybe wouldn't have shared freely which has suddenly inspired an idea.
Curiosity shouldn't be just for children. We shouldn't see being inquisitive as a negative thing but as something which allows us to experience enriched lives full of knowledge and exploration.
So my question for you, dear reader, is how can you be more curious in your life?
Until next time.