Just Be Curious

Awhile back I discovered a new Truth Tool that I used and then for some reason forgot all about. But it is a good one--Curiosity. I discovered it by watching how children deal with negative experiences. Children are naturally resilient and I realized that part of what makes them so resilient is their curiosity about life.

I love this Truth Tool and realize that I have used it on many occasions in my life without recognizing that it is a Truth Tool. Here’s how it works. When vexation starts to swell in you, instead of being sucked into the negative feelings get curious about them. An example will best explain how this works.

Let’s say you suddenly get bad news that your company is laying off 200 workers and you are one of them. Vexation! The negative feelings start to rise in you and the Should Sharks begin to attack. “What am I going to do? I’ve got bills to pay!” “This shouldn't t be happening. I’ve been a good employee for twenty years! I’m too old to find a new job.” “This isn’t fair!” “I always knew this company could care less about employees. All that matters to them are dollars.” These thoughts cause negative feelings to knot in the stomach and choke in the chest.

But then you remember the Truth Tools and pull out Curiosity and change the way you are thinking to things like:

“I wonder what lesson God wants me to learn from this.” 

“When God closes a window, He opens a door. I wonder what door will open for me now.” 

“I can’t wait to see what tender mercies will come my way to help me through this.” 

“I wonder how this is going to make me grow.”

 

In short, be curious instead of worrying and stay in the Realm of Truth.

A New Truth Tool!

This week I discovered a NEW Truth Tool! It is Curiosity. I discovered it by watching how children deal with negative experiences. Children are naturally resilient and I realized that part of what makes them so resilient is their curiosity about life.

I love this Truth Tool and realize that I have used it on many occasions in my life without recognizing that it is a Truth Tool. Here’s how it works. When vexation starts to swell in you, instead of being sucked into the negative feelings get curious about them. An example will best explain how this works.

Let’s say you suddenly get bad news that your company is laying off 200 workers and you are one of them. Vexation! The negative feelings start to rise in you. “What am I going to do? I’ve got bills to pay!” “This can’t be happening. I’ve been a good employee for twenty years! I’m too old to find a new job.” “This isn’t fair!” “I always knew this company could care less about employees. All that matters to them are dollars.” These thoughts cause negative feelings to knot in the stomach and choke in the chest.

But then you remember the Truth Tools and pull out Curiosity and change the way you are thinking. “I wonder what lesson God wants me to learn from this.” “When God closes a window, He always opens a door. I wonder what door God will open for me now.” “I can’t wait to see what tender mercies will come my way to help me though this.” “I wonder how this is going to make me grow.”

Curiosity may have killed a cat, but it’s saved me.

Curiosity Hasn't Killed This Cat. . .Yet

I have been blessed (or cursed as it sometimes seems) with an incredible curiosity. I always want to know why and what and how and can’t rest until I find answers. That means I’m hardly ever at rest. Some of my daughters have that same curiosity, but D3 coupled that with an acute stubbornness. She is also very bright.

One day we took the girls out to Vernal to see the dinosaur fields and after a fun time learning and exploring started back to our hotel. As we traversed the desolate miles of nothing but sage brush, we suddenly came upon a fire hydrant on the side of the road.  Surprised, I exclaimed, “What is a fire hydrant doing in the middle of no place?”

D3, who was five years old at the time, immediately spoke up, “How can there be a middle if it is no place?” I tried to explain about figures of speech and what it meant, but she was stuck in the literalness of the statement. Frustrated, she kept asking questions and I kept trying to explain. But it was to no avail. Finally she burst into tears and cried, “No place can’t have a middle!”

I agreed and left it at that. But I’ve thought of that experience so many times since then. She now has five children who ask the questions and she answers them a lot better than I ever did, but I’ve learned that curiosity and questioning can be great blessings in life. While it sometimes drives the people we ask our questions to mad, it makes life so much more interesting. I hope I never lose my curiosity.