Today I’m continuing my blog about curiosity, about how it leads to wonder, and then how it often creates happiness and joy.
Remember when you were a kid, in your innocence and naivety, looking at life with a sense of wonder.
I guess that I was about 4 when I decided to satisfy my curiosity about what would happen if I stuck a pair scissors into an electrical outlet. Talk about shock therapy. Was there wonder? More surprise than wonder actually. Any Joy? – No way José. And my mother knew what had happened. She saw the black and melted end of the scissors blade that I had inserted.
A couple of year later when I was about 6, on my way to St. Peter and Paul Catholic School after lunch one day, I decided to find out what was inside of Olivet United Church that I passed on the way to and from school every day. As I crept up the centre isle I heard a voice – “can I help you young man?”. It was the Minister, but I thought it was the devil himself speaking to me, and I raced out of the building as quickly as I could. Instead of wonder and joy it was absolute terror that I experienced. By the way, I didn’t step into another Protestant Church again until I met my future wife, and we were married in, of all places, Central United Church in Welland Ontario.
Then, when I was about 8, I think, I was very curious about how my father’s watch worked. I managed to pry off the back and remove the inner workings. It was wonderful. When I put everything back together there were a couple of small pieces left over. No big deal I thought. Well, my dad knew it was me who had worked on his watch, after he took it into a repair shop and was told why it had stopped ticking. And there was little joy in the spanking that I received.
At age 10, on my uncle’s farm, my older cousin Betty and I decided to go for a walk in the woods and check out the neighbor’s property. We came upon a clearing – full of wildflowers and a little stream gurgling over some rocks. We called it wonderland. It was amazing. It was truly joyful!
Then 6 years ago, on a beautiful sunny Mother’s Day, my wife and I rode my motorcycle out of London where we were living, to Port Stanley, on Lake Erie. After lunch at a local beach bar, I suggested we check out the blue townhouse condos up on the bluff. Just out of curiosity. To see if there was anything for sale. Well, wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, there was an end unit available, on the lakeside, next to the pool. A few weeks later, it was our retirement haven. Every morning since then I have joyfully looked out at that lake and silently thanked the Universe.
So no, while it does not always happen that curiosity is followed by wonder and in turn, by joy: It very often is.
Joy is defined as a feeling of great pleasure. The emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying.
Metaphysically speaking the meaning of joy is:
The happiness of God expressed through His perfect idea—man [and woman if I may add]. Joy and gladness are strength-giving, especially if the mind is fixed on the things of Spirit.
In the Teachings of Abraham we are told that
“The greatest gift you can ever give another person is your own happiness. You are joy, looking for a way to express. It’s not just that your purpose is joy, it is that you are joy. You are love and joy and freedom and clarity expressing.”
I have a special morning routine that I follow pretty well every day. One of the steps is restating my life purpose. Want to know what it is?
Her are the first few lines:
“IT IS MY MISSION AND LIFE PURPOSE:
This time ‘round
To have fun and to be happy
To experience joy and savor the succulent sweetness of life,
To row my boat gently down the stream
To float in the direction of my dreams
To drift with the current of the Divine”
And so on.
What’s your purpose may I ask? Happiness and Joy, I hope.
Stay tuned for next month’s blog about CURIOSITY.
NAMASTE and SAWUBONA. Keep manifesting only good things
Tony
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