Curiosity gave the cat its 9 lives

I recently read a magazine article (which I presently wish I could find!) which spoke about how being curious is good for your health. In other words curiosity may not have actually killed the cat but rather gave it more life. :-)



From what I remember, curiosity helps us in several ways. 1. Making life more interesting.
2. Keeping our brain active and young. and 3. With our curiosity making us follow our dreams, we are happier and have less stress. All of these mentioned are good for our health.



When reading through the article it made me ask myself: "Am I a curious person?" Deep down I knew I was but I took the time to think through the different aspects of my life and check each one over. In most areas I am quite curious but some areas I get lazy and there needs to be some growth. Here is a list of ways that I enjoy being curious as well as some things I want to work in.

1. Do you take the same route each and every time you go someplace? Try a new road! This is something I have loved since I was a child. I remember riding along to town and wondering what was down each road we passed. I loved it whenever we had a chance to drive down one. When my older brother Peter got his license we were able to start exploring some new roads more. I remember being with him on a trip when we were headed home from way northern MN and he decided to just basically follow his compass south and we took every new road we could. We ended up on a road that just turned into an old railroad bed, he had 4 wheel drive so that didn't stop us. When Peter and I were both in college in Iowa we and other friends went to a rural church. We tried every possible variance of route to get there. One time it took us through as little stream in a road that had no bridge. When I married Ken I was very happy to find that he also enjoyed exploring new roads. We explored much of South Eastern Iowa together. We still like to drive new ways, drive down a road just to see what is down it and also bike in various places. The kids love it!


2. Have kids! Or just spend time with kids and enjoy learning together. You may have gotten tired of hearing a little kid say "Why?" (I know I have had my times!) but at the same time doesn't each "why?" make you wonder a bit too? Kids are very curious and if you let yourself you can re-learn from them how to be a little curious too.


3. Homeschool! Homeschooling is perfect for encouraging curiosity. I could just spend times wondering about things but since I have little students to teach I feel like I need to find out the answers. Some examples in my life have been teaching various co-op classes about things like pioneers and colonial times different subjects I love to learn about but I wouldn't have pressed myself if I hadn't had a reason too. We also had a great time doing a fairly in depth study of the 50 states last year.
4. Read! If you wonder about something, read about it. Try new books. Learn new things. I love to read! This year I want to stretch myself to read some books that I might not normally pick up.
5. Use Google. It is amazing to me how quickly the Internet has become part of our lives. Just a couple of years ago I would have had to look through books, asked other people (And I still do those things some of the time) but now if I have a quick question I can just google it! I love being able to find things out so quickly. Lately I have started to use Swagbucks and so now when I search for something I can even earn points which I then can redeem for gift cards. Being curious can help the budget! :-)
6. Study! I am personally going to apply this to the Bible. This is an area I am curious in but I see how much I need to grow!! When I am teaching someone else (be it children or adults) I usually do a fair amount of study to make sure I can teach well. But on my own I am guilty of having a question about something and thinking that I need to study it and then I never get around to that. I really want to work at being more curious in this area!
7. Take Classes! Are you interested in something? Sign up for a class to learn how. Last year we went to a class were we learned to make Native American pottery, A couple of years ago I started taking cello lessons because I wanted to learn. This next week Ken and I are planning on taking down hill skiing lessons because we have never done that before. Don't stop learning just because you are an adult. Another class I would like to take is how to make pottery using a wheel.
8. Try new hobbies! My motto is to always try something once as long as it is legal, would please God and it looks interesting. Because of that motto I have a huge list of hobbies that I enjoy. I have fun though!
9. Try new foods! Thursday suppers are our time for trying new foods. When we were studying the states we would do a recipe from that state. Soon we are hoping to do foods from different countries. This is not only fun but it allows you to find new favorites and helps the whole family to be more open about foods. When we go out to eat I usually try to order something I haven't had before.
10. Be interested in People. It is amazing what you can learn if you are willing to listen to others. (Now if I could just learn to be quiet!!) Speaking of listening to others, I would love if you would share your two cents in the comments!

Those are some of the ways that I am curious, what about you? What do you love to learn about or try new?