GUEST POST: WRITTEN BY BRIDGET THOMPSON
Read the original post here
"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity" -- Ellen Parr
"Replacing judgement with curiosity is a key element in becoming unstuck" -- Francie White
CURIOSITY IS...
+ A state in which you want to learn more about something
+ An emotion related to inquisitive behaviour
+ The tendency to ask questions, investigate or explore
+ The desire to know what is happening or has happened
It is the 'cure' for boredom, as in the quote above. It is also a cure for anxiety, "stuck"-ness and feeling overwhelmed. It focuses attention on the subject of the curiosity.
When we are anxious about the unknown, it is useful to focus our attention on what we do know. We can do this using curiosity.
CURIOSITY CAN SOOTHE FEAR
Shifting in to a curious state has the effect of pulling apart the elements that contribute to anxiety or "stuck"-ness or feelings of overwhelm, thereby reducing those emotions.
Fear and curiosity cannot exist together. Curiosity is absent when we are overwhelmed with anxiety or fear. Conversely, when we engage our inquisitive nature, fear rarely comes up.
Our natural curiosity comes out when we encounter something of interest to us.
It can be challenging to tap back in to curiosity periodically when some thing is familiar to us eg: a person, a place, a feeling etc. We may assume we know everything about this thing/person/emotions, so we miss out on discovering completely new elements and perspectives on that thing/person/emotion.
There is always more to discover.
If we stay OPEN, CURIOUS, UNASSUMING, everything in life that may feel boring or dull can become completely NEW and WONDROUS again.
Shift back over to that place of not knowing; of pure curiosity. Inquisition.
HOW TO HARNESS CURIOSITY TO OVERCOME FEAR
+ BE LIKE A CHILD
Consider a child.
They constantly ask questions, unashamedly seek answers. They don't know a lot and are not afraid to admit that. Consequently their world remains EXCITING, STIMULATING and FASCINATING. They do not get caught up in FEARS. Instead, they are always CURIOUS.
Sometimes we are ambivalent about making the changes we know will serve us, and so we get stuck.
Often we do not know what keeps us stuck. Change can slowly emerge only when we choose to actually look at the different elements of our fear or our ambivalence.
Exactly WHAT IS IT we are afraid of? Explore. Be curious.
We do not need to worry about "fixing" or "making better". Just explore what is lurking there.
+ ACCEPT WHAT IS
Curiosity can also have the effect of encouraging acceptance of what is.
A great way to change behaviours that we find problematic is to accept the behaviour and, with open curiosity, observe it to learn what drives, triggers and reasons are behind it.
+ ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
We can adjust our self talk, thoughts and language to encourage curiosity.
In areas we feel rigidly stuck in terms of our perspective, we can try reframing the situation.
For example
+ "I wonder..."
+ "Imagine..."
+ "Hmm, that makes me curious about.."
+ "Can I explore this more?"
Change is least likely to happen when someone is feeling judged or is judging themselves.
"Why" questions are usually heard as a judgement. Even when our questions come from genuine curiosity, sub consciously we still feel these as judgement. We when re-word our questions to "How..." and "What..." questions, our curiosity is elicited
Practice your curiosity today and observe the difference it makes.
Curiosity is free of JUDGEMENT, FEAR and ANXIETY
Curiosity is purely OPEN, INNOCENT and GENUINELY interested
It will truly change the everyday experience of your life, yourself, others and situations.
Read more from Bridget on her New Leaf Nutrition website and blog. Or connect on Facebook and Twitter.
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