For most of us the best days of our life were the childhood days. Everything was fresh and exciting. A piece of paper to a toy gave us a world of endless possibilities. Each and every moment we were ready to learn new things. Almost nothing felt boring. Lack of ideas or no time for play was boring! God! Everything felt like a source of endless possibilities. Success, failures, disappointments, anger, selfishness and other emotions just felt like a phase that would bring something and then go.
Fast forward twenty odd years ahead, you're in your twenties nearing thirties (or any age you are in). Life has become a drab and you are pushing your way through it. A piece of paper is just a piece of garbage. A toy, I can't even understand now why I played with those "things"! The moments of learning have given way to a seemingly endless race of fighting for the next level of success. The excitement of finding something new in small things has faded away and financial wants are shouting at you from the top. Playfulness is a luxury which I can't seem to afford anymore. And I am concerned.
What changed from then and now? I added a few school certificates, college degrees, found and lost friends, faced a few failures or successes, had my share heartbreaks, became an expert in few areas & mediocre in others and did buy a few expensive things. That's pretty much the story of any body's life; just change the magnitude of above events. Despite of all loses and gains; the biggest thing I lost was my appetite for curiosity. I forgot what it was to be curious; an emotion that opens a floodgate for new experiences, relations and above all happiness.
Curiosity is defined as the desire to learn something new. To learn the receptiveness of mind & body has to be at its best. I am highly receptive when I don't form a preconceived notion. I am ready to listen. To me listening means giving other person respect which in turn is offering the service of your mind and senses to him or her. I can call this humility but humility doesn't mean bending to others' will (Robert Downey Jr. said this in an interview). It just means agreeing there is another point of view which may or may not be different from your point of view. If I can agree that another pov exists I automatically become more receptive to others. So I am more curious to know about you and your pov. So listening is not a favor but a service you provide to others because they consider you worthy enough to share their words with you.
(The same emotion Mahatma Gandhi shared while describing our duty towards a customer. He said, "A customer is the most important visitor on our premises, he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.")
So my wish for myself (and you) is to improve my humility which in turn makes me more curious. A win-win situation if you look from any point of view!
Fast forward twenty odd years ahead, you're in your twenties nearing thirties (or any age you are in). Life has become a drab and you are pushing your way through it. A piece of paper is just a piece of garbage. A toy, I can't even understand now why I played with those "things"! The moments of learning have given way to a seemingly endless race of fighting for the next level of success. The excitement of finding something new in small things has faded away and financial wants are shouting at you from the top. Playfulness is a luxury which I can't seem to afford anymore. And I am concerned.
What changed from then and now? I added a few school certificates, college degrees, found and lost friends, faced a few failures or successes, had my share heartbreaks, became an expert in few areas & mediocre in others and did buy a few expensive things. That's pretty much the story of any body's life; just change the magnitude of above events. Despite of all loses and gains; the biggest thing I lost was my appetite for curiosity. I forgot what it was to be curious; an emotion that opens a floodgate for new experiences, relations and above all happiness.
Curiosity is defined as the desire to learn something new. To learn the receptiveness of mind & body has to be at its best. I am highly receptive when I don't form a preconceived notion. I am ready to listen. To me listening means giving other person respect which in turn is offering the service of your mind and senses to him or her. I can call this humility but humility doesn't mean bending to others' will (Robert Downey Jr. said this in an interview). It just means agreeing there is another point of view which may or may not be different from your point of view. If I can agree that another pov exists I automatically become more receptive to others. So I am more curious to know about you and your pov. So listening is not a favor but a service you provide to others because they consider you worthy enough to share their words with you.
(The same emotion Mahatma Gandhi shared while describing our duty towards a customer. He said, "A customer is the most important visitor on our premises, he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.")
So my wish for myself (and you) is to improve my humility which in turn makes me more curious. A win-win situation if you look from any point of view!
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