A new year is a time to begin looking at our lives differently. After all we have been through the last year, I know that it helps to find wonder and curiosity towards our future.
For me, this realization started with a phone conversation with the Minister whose Center I work for as a virtual assistant. He tells me that not only are they are giving me a raise, but they are increasing my workload. Why? Because he says, I am willing to learn new things.
How to live in wonder and curiosity
Our world has come a long way in the last 25 or so years with learning how to use a computer (I grew up with a manual typewriter, mimeograph machines, and telephone party lines!). Approaching technology with wonder and curiosity led me from there to working as a contractual virtual assistant.
Of course, long ago, I learned to look at new skills with wonder and curiosity.
We all go through periods where changes are happening. New jobs, new friends, new homes can be exciting or scary. It all depends on the point of view we wish to take.
According to an article, Living Everyday Wonder, in the January Science of Mind Magazine, curiosity enables us to live in the present:
Curiosity … is a mindfulness practice of being present with what is. We can apply this practice of curiosity, of orienting to wonder, to the opportunities and challenges in our lives. We then relate to our experiences rather than relating from them, and this awareness creates spaciousness for inquiry, inspiration and choice. The focused attention of curiosity enables us to rediscover our natural inquisitiveness.
Jesus stated in the Bible that unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And what is the way about little children that is so important? They are trusting and curious about the world around them. Most move through life amazed at some of the little things that we, as adults, miss, ignore, or take for granted.
Let’s be like little children and look at the world with wonder and curiosity. I am sure it will help us find more joy in life!