i-TFTD #356: Be Strongly Curious

On Curiosity

-Ivone (Rochelle)

If you were asked what was your greatest strength, what would you reply? In the case of John F. Kennedy, he said "My curiosity." Now, that's an answer you wouldn't expect. And then there's Albert Einstein protesting, "I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." And even Eleanor Roosevelt said, "I think, at a child's birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift would be curiosity."

What's so great about curiosity? Actually, it's something we humans share with the entire animal kingdom. It's a necessary urge to find out about our environment, find food, to survive. But for humans, it's so much more. Curiosity leads you to explore new ways of doing things, solve problems, and investigate possibilities. It keeps the sense of wonder that you had as a child alive. When your curiosity is keen, you can grow and expand your life to fit your dreams.

Here's a fun exercise for you to try to show you what I mean. The next time you are faced with a problem or challenge, start off with the words "What if... ." Then allow yourself to think of the most absurd, unlikely, "way out" solutions you can. This helps you to think outside that proverbial box. And you just might surprise yourself by what you come up with!

To add more words to your curiosity arsenal, here's a poetic reminder from Rudyard Kipling:

I have six honest serving men

They taught me all I knew.

I call them Why and When and Where

And How and What and Who.

And don't worry that "Curiosity killed the cat…" Remember the rest of that proverb – "...but satisfaction brought him back"!

(Thanks to Prasad Pejawar for sharing this.)

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Curiosity is exercised by asking questions, an underrated ability highlighted more than once in i-TFTD. Curiosity, by definition, can only be towards things I don't know. The advice above related to finding out-of-the-box solutions is to have curiosity towards things I might not have thought of or liked to consider.

i-TFTD #2: Richard Bach

From Richard Bach's writings:

#2-1 The best way to avoid responsibilities is to say, "I have got responsibilities."

#2-2 Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years.

#2-3 The simplest questions are the most profound. Where are you going? What are you doing? Think about these once in a while, and watch your answers change.

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Some people I meet, within minutes, we are chatting away comfortably as though we have known each other for years. And it is not just people who have similar interests or agree with my views, they could be different but we just... connect. I guess there are shared values somewhere. I find it difficult to connect with people of a suspicious nature.

The so-called simplest questions could be difficult to answer! Even if it sets you thinking, it is useful.