Hey, what's happened to curiosity?  Did it do something wrong? Did it get relegated to the third division?  When did we decide that all things have answers and that life is a search for definitive solutions and no questions should be left undone?

We turned life into the multiple answer quiz and removed the option "None of the Above".

But I was thinking this week and I wrote down on my pad next to me:

What if all life were the adventure of finding out, rather than finding?

Maybe it is the nature of the human mind that has become so petrified by the discomfort of not-knowing that it will settle for a poor answer or half-truth before it admits it does not know.

Or has it just become not cool to not know?

I thought there used to be joy in the process of discovery.  Didn't we like a bit of mystery? The word 'wonder'  ponders and considers.  It's open.  It shrugs its' shoulders a bit. It has patience.  And Christmas used to be a holiday of 'wonder', right?  We have 7 Wonders in this World.

Actually, only 7?

That's not a lot of Wonder.

To be unsure is to be invisible.  The humiliation of the admitting you have no answer is actually worse than hoofing something indefensible or silly. Ever seen someone defend a totally made-up fact because they got cornered by their own uncertainty? 

"Actually, dear, no, I'm not sure which road to take or where we are."

Will you hear that?
 
Well, we can all recognize ourselves here. I certainly see myself. 

Having said that, I can't tell you the weight that lifts when I say, "I'm not sure."

Try it on.

What do you think?

 "I don't know.  But I wonder..."

Pair #67 Anyone seen my happiness lying around?

Recently I attended Robert Holden's Coaching Happiness training and I really experienced the power of asking yourself deep questions about happiness ... and then listening for the answer.

What Robert brought home to me was the power of asking questions like, "What is Happiness for me?"  and treating Happiness, not as a destination, but as an inquiry.  

Here are some of my fave quotes from Robert that week

"When we forget who we are, we forget what happiness is"

"Happiness is a non-deserving issue"

"Happiness is the experience of your true nature"

"Will your choices help you be happy Now... or Eventually?"

Where am I with my inquiry?  For me, today, happiness is relaxing into me exactly as I am and exactly as I am not.   Self-love and self-acceptance may sound pretty dumb when rolled up into pat utterances like "love yourself" or "I'm OK, You're OK" but when you ask what that looks like and what it means for you, it can become meaningful. 

What is happiness?

when I stop trying to 'become'
when I'm kind and loving
when I'm not believing all my small thoughts about myself
the space when I'm not trying to rid myself of anything

Happiness is when I look and really see that I'm always just one thought away from happiness. 

How encouraging.