Positive Psychology identifies five character strengths that are most related to happiness:
ZEST | CURIOSITY | HOPE | GRATITUDE | LOVE
“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” Walt Disney.
You might have noticed the cocked head, perked ears, raised eyebrows and flared nose on a dog, when he senses something new. It could be a sound, vibration, smell or sight and instantly his interest is aroused. Rarely is he content to return to his resting posture. He is impelled to check out the source and satiate his curiosity.
You might have watched a toddler crawl under a sofa to retrieve her runaway ball and get sidetracked by a scurrying ant. She is mesmerized as she follows this tiny insect to join the rest of the army on its grave and grand mission. She watches with fascination the brave foot soldiers carrying a speck of sugar that is larger than four of them put together. Now if she had stayed with her ball she would have missed out on this opportune moment of impeccable learning about team work, co-operation, discipline and purposeful goal driven activity. The best of teachers would have been hard pressed to demonstrate so effectively to such a young student a life lesson of such gargantuan proportions and enduring nature. Her mind just expanded exponentially. Therein lays the honeyed gift of curiosity.
Curiosity is that thirst for knowledge about a hitherto unknown phenomenon. It is the fuel that drives us to stretching and scratching needed to reveal beauties and oddities of nature, our physical world and human beings. It is the impetus to expand and grow beyond our wildest dreams. Every scientific research has its base in simple curiosity. We can learn from babies, animals and the provocative minds of scientists. We can learn to ask questions, be open to new experiences, be humble to new wisdom and be ready to risk new choices. There is no scope for stagnation if we stay open to curiosity. We continuously work towards self-improvement.
Challenge yourself to get curious about something new today. Whether it is learning to navigate the groan inducing maze of website building (I speak from fresh experi
ence), or inquisitiveness about what causes the dull, worn patch in your otherwise lush lawn in the front yard year after year, or what causes a well risen soufflé to fall flat just when you are ready to serve it, simply get nosy. The action of poking and prodding activate new neurons in the brain and these in turn create a chain reaction that is proven to lead to happiness. Without curiosity our horizon would be flat. ~ Sushama Kirtikar, July 2014.