“Guys have underestimated me my entire life and for years I never understood why – it used to really bother me. Then one day I was driving my little boy to school, and I saw a quote by Walt Whitman, it was painted on the wall there and it said, ‘Be curious, not judgmental.’ I like that. So, I get back in my car and I’m driving to work and all of a sudden it hits me – all them fellas that used to belittle me, not a single one of them was curious. You know, they thought they had everything all figured out, so they judged everything, and they judged everyone. And I realized that their underestimating me – who I was had nothing to do with it. Because if they were curious, they would’ve asked questions.” (Ted Lasso). If we are to transform our weaknesses into strengths and continue our eternal journey towards perfection, then we have to stay curious. Certainty is the destroyer of faith. Curiosity is its lifeblood. It was curiosity that led Eve to partake of the fruit, Moses to go near a burning bush, Peter to step out onto the water. Curiosity led a fourteen year old boy to follow the admonition of James: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” (James 1:5). God will never punish us for being curious and asking Him when we lack wisdom. He encourages it. When we remain curious, failure is not the end but a blind alley from which we have to backtrack and try out a different way. Curious people do not attempt to do things the exact same way over and over and expect different results. Curious people expect different results, but they also understand that they have to change their ways if they want different outcomes. I hope that we can all be curiously strong and never judgemental about ourselves or our situation but always ask more and more questions.
