203
Jennifer worked in a bookstore, and she was complaining one day to her coworker that she had nothing new to look forward to in her life.
“It’s the same old thing, day in and day out. I come here, I sell books, I go home. How am I ever going to learn anything new and interesting?”
Her coworker was a high school junior at least fifteen years younger than Jennifer. He glanced around the store and then looked at her blankly, unsure of how to respond. You see, the high school student couldn’t wait to get to work at the bookstore three times a week, because he was surrounded by shelves and shelves of undiscovered territory. He could work there for years and never fully take advantage of all of the information at his fingertips.
The young man had no idea what to say to Jennifer. The books weren’t going to jump off the shelves and into her brain. She needed to have enough curiosity to wonder what was on all of those beautifully bound pages.
Are you waiting for knowledge to acquire you? It’s not going to happen while you are sitting there doing nothing. Get into action and go after knowledge. Go to a bookstore today and stroll along the shelves. What subjects interest you? Grab a book or two and take them home with you (after paying, of course). You can do the same exercise in the library if you don’t want to spend any money. Acquire a little knowledge today. Read something new and find out how it feels to increase your depth of knowledge.
204
What happens when curiosity dies?
Nothing.
That is not good.
You should be curious about things always. Curiosity is the centerpiece of progress. Think about how many great men and women achieved incredible success because they were curious. Can you name a few people who are in our history books today because they asked questions and went after the answers? Open up your journal and brainstorm the names of individuals who are famous in our world today because of their curiosity.
Take one or two of those historical people and learn a little bit more about them today. Go online and pull up their biographies or stop by your local library and do a little research. What did you find out about them? How were they treated by their peers when they first started to find the answers to the questions they asked? How exactly did they achieve success through their discoveries? What can you learn from them and apply to your own life?
Don’t let anyone make you feel like a fool for asking questions. You can relax in the awareness that you can never possibly have too much knowledge. You are the smart one to indulge your curiosity. It is a fool who stops asking questions.
205
Curiosity is a gift. It’s a gift and a cure, and it should be accepted with the joy and reverence it deserves. Curiosity relieves you of boredom. It gives meaning to your life. When you are searching for answers you have hope and optimism about how your life (and maybe even the lives of others) will change as a result of the knowledge you pick up to satisfy your curiosity.
On the other hand, curiosity can drive you crazy! Have you ever been so completely wrapped up in something that you can’t eat or sleep? Curiosity can very easily turn into obsession.
Thomas Edison kept a cot in his lab, because he never got much sleep. He had to take catnaps during the day to catch up. His mind was constantly turning over new ideas and asking questions that kept him up at night as he pondered them and looked for solutions.
You don’t have to become an insomniac to be successful, but it isn’t so terrible if curiosity cuts into your quality snooze time every once in a while. It’s a better alternative than complete boredom. The next morning you may be sleepy, but you will also be satisfied.
Sometimes people talk about curiosity as a disease for which there is no cure, but they say that with a twinkle in their eye. They know how exhilarating it is to pursue knowledge. Let your curiosity get a little out of control this week and enjoy the rewards.
