“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.”

Socrates

Do you ever feel like you have lost your sense of wonder? Sometimes it feels like the “requirements” of modern-day life are beating down any sense of wonder.

We would like to sit around and wonder, but who has time? We are piled up with endless responsibilities, from projects and email at work to grocery shopping and cleaning up at home.

If we aren’t mindful, any “free time” is consumed with mindless tasks.

Make time for wonder

Prioritise time for thinking and ideas. Pay attention to the world. Appreciate the beauty in your neighbourhood. Ponder something new. Who knows what insight this may generate and where it may lead. 

That is one of the main reasons I enjoy this blog – it forces me to pause and reflect on what I am learning and noticing in the world. It becomes a positive feedback loop where I am paying more attention, so I have something to write about, which leads to learning more; I seek out more new experiences, learn more, and so on it goes around. It has set me off on a totally new and more engaging life path.

We thrive when we are life-long learners. The old saying goes, “if you aren’t growing, your dying”. Without this sense of wonder, our thirst for new knowledge and wisdom is squashed. Life becomes a little dull and repetitive. We lose those “ah-ha” moments of insight. We have nothing to contribute to interesting conversations.

Try to rekindle that inner childlike awe of the world. Encourage curiosity. Suddenly life becomes so much more exciting. As another old saying goes, “to become interesting, become interested”.

Reflection

I will pause and curiously investigate when something strikes me with wonder.