Have you ever spent time learning about something only to find out that you really aren’t that interested in the information?
Sometimes you have to learn some things you might not find interesting just to get to the stuff you really do want to learn. You may recall some grade school moments here. Awe, big sigh.
For instance, if you put me in an engineering class on how to build stable and lasting bridges for urban areas, I will likely fall asleep. But, if you teach me the big theories behind how it all works, you will likely pique my interest because I’m building cross-curricular connections.
I love big picture information that helps me make sense of the detailed stuff I’m really interested in learning and teaching.
So, how do you know where to begin?
I want to share a secret with you. All the great masters, from Einstein, Darwin, Jordon, Gates, Jobs, etc., had this ONE thing in common.
Are you ready?! Good. I’m excited to share.
They were all curious! For that reason, they created some pretty amazing things that we use today.
Curiosity is your desire to learn anything. You may not know exactly what you want to focus on right now and that’s ok!
I’ve started down many curiosity trails of learning and discovered the information just wasn’t for me. To say that I’ve done that more than once (or twice) is an understatement! That’s kind of the nature of curiosity. Wink. Wink.
Maybe you are wondering why curiosity matters to you anyway? Learning the right things for us = success. Think about this process like a scavenger hunt. All the clues will help you to your ultimate destination even when you aren’t sure how to answer the clue or answer the clue wrong.
What destination you ask? Perhaps you want to be a better writer, a more proactive and mindful parent, or a leader that inspires. Or, maybe you just want to simply be the best volunteer in your church or you want to cook easy and healthy meals for your family.
The destination is anything that you can dream up. It can be as big, small, or in the middle road as you want.
And, I get that sometimes we are so confused on what our destination is all about.
This is why I want to share how mindfulness can boost your curiosity.
So you, like all the great masters, can start creating some cool stuff. Your voice matters in the world!
For starters, stress smothers curiosity. I mentioned on my podcast, Mindful Living with Athea Davis, last week that mindful living looks a lot of different ways, but one thing mindful living does look like no matter who you are or what your background is, is that you have the ability to modulate your stress levels. That just means you know when you are stressed and you know how to decrease your stress levels in a healthy way.
This requires you learn some mindful breathing tools. Not so great at that? Don’t worry! I’ve got you covered.
I have a free guided visualization on my Instagram page @atheadavis. It’s from my Funny Bones Meditations resource, developed for classrooms, but it’s perfect for my beginners too, as I guide you through the entire mindful breathing process. Plus, if you like visualization, you can listen to the whole track. It will certainly add some sunshine into your day.
In fact, I want you to listen to the entire track (called Rooted & Free, the link is in my IG bio), because at the end I ask you to spend some time in self-reflection.
The process of engaging in mindful breathing and self-reflection on how that calming practice affects you will pique and, naturally increase your curiosity.
Why? It’s a quick and super achievable win! It feels good to be able to control your stress levels and your brain rewards you for that. And, that process is a process in curiosity, in action.
It’s also called metacognition (don’t worry, I won’t go into all the nerdy details). It’s thinking about your thinking.
Meaning, when you engage in mindful breathing and reflect on how it impacts your mind, heart, and overall well-being, it excites your curiosity (and you just happen to be thinking about your thinking… by taking a mindful breath, noticing it calmed you down, etc.) to learn about you and, when you get curious about yourself and how you get curious, you get curious about the world around you.
Enjoy the process and have fun becoming a master of your own life!
XO ~ Athea
