Take The Time to Wonder

Have you ever stopped and watched a small child at play? Have you watched the wonder in their eyes as they explore the world? How about how their little fingers when they explore things, how they hold and touch objects it in different ways? Have you watched how they listen and how their eyes light up when you sing to them or talk to them?

Children experience our world in a different way to adults. Everything is new, exciting, and stimulating. They learn at such a rapid rate and want to know about the world around them and how it functions. Unfortunately, us adults can sometimes have tunnel vision. We become so focused on one thing – the to-do list. We rush from work to home, worrying about all the things we have to do. We become vacant and consumed by the task at hand, or the worries in our minds. We become closed off to the world and new experiences or curiosities.

Why does a four year old ask so many questions? They are intrigued and curious about the world. They want to know how things work. They want to discover. As adults, we can get so bogged down in the everyday, the mundane, the to-do list that we lose this curiosity about the world.

How wonderful would it be to live like a child again? To explore, to be filled with intrigue and wonder?

The thing you haven't lost the desire to wonder, you have just covered it up with other priorities.

Have you ever taken a vacation and made a major life decision whilst you were there? Why did it take going on vacation to make that decision?

The answer is simple, on vacation you were not focused on your to-do list. You mind had a chance to relax, to stop thinking about all the busy work, and to think about the bigger picture.

Here is a small challenge for you this week: I encourage you to put some time in your diary this week (just 10 mins or so each day) and take a few moments to wonder, to think, to explore. If the weather is ok, then outside is best. It won't be easy at first. All the things you have to do will keep popping up in your head. Thats ok, acknowledge those thoughts and then try and come back to observing the world around you. Touch something natural (the bark of a tree, a leaf, some grass), and be conscious about how the texture feels in your hand. 

Take time for yourself to be with yourself and wonder.

If you make this a practice for just 10 mins a day, you will be surprised how much more you start to see in the world around you.