Awake Your Childlike Curiosity to Navigate Life Uncertainties

Do you recall the times you fell as a child while learning how to walk?

No matter how badly you fall, you would always get up and try again.  That’s how we learnt how to walk eventually. Children live in the moment.  They have the Beginners mind. They don’t have lots of assumption.  They just simply curious and they would experiment. They try and try again. And they succeed.

Curiosity fades as we grow up, shaped by school, social pressure and norms, and the illusion that we already know certain things as an adult. As adults, we learn about boundaries as we encounter some setbacks in life.  We are conditioned to think in a certain way.  Sometimes, in the hard knocks of life, as adults, we may apply the wrong assumption to the situation.

Curiosity grows when we question assumptions, and stay open to learning from others.

Choosing curiosity over certainty leads deeper learning, and new perspectives.

Children’s desire to know how somethings works outweighs their fear of it breaking. They don’t carry the baggage of past failures and they ain’t embarrassed to fail.    

So how do you reawaken your inner child curiosity?

1.      Take time to engage in creative activities like drawing, writing, dancing without caring if it’s perfect. No KPIs.

2.      Be lighthearted. Give yourself permission to be silly and ridiculous. I recalled that I was bored from WFH during covid and it was near Easter. I made rabbit ears out of paper and clipped them onto my hair and posted the photo online. My friends had a good laugh.  Or I would take a photo in a funny pose whenever I go overseas. That would make those memories more joyful and memorable.        

3.      Do micro experiments. For example: Try a different recipe. Sometimes, depending what I have in the fridge, I would whip up a new dish. There's the surprisingly tasty chocolate chilli cupcake which my friend enjoyed. There's also the inedible dish of tomato steam egg which didn't set after an hour of cooking which had to be discarded. LOL

The Adult state is efficient but may become rigid and exhausted. The inner Child state is the one that says, "What if?" and finds the possibilities that the Adult couldn't ‘see’ . 

I use the both adult in me and the child in me at different times to navigate uncertainties in life. The adult in me would get tired at times and I would rest or pause. I like to look at the information gathered and realign. If required, I would activate the child in me which is energetic and open to possibilities to get unstuck and look at the issue from a fresh angle.

While I was going through a valley season in my life years ago and trying to find a way out of the darkness. It was through watching the video of my nephew trying to learn how to walk which encouraged me. He was unable to walk when he was 2 years and many were concerned whether he had developmental issues.  

Then one day, out of the blue, he just stood clumsily while holding onto the table for support and take a step out.  He fell countless times but he was not discouraged and continued to try again while smiling.  Eventually, he let go of holding onto the table and was able to take slow walk steadily.   On those days when I felt discouraged, I would watch that video and take another step towards my vision. Eventually, I got to the destination of my vision.

To Summarise:  Be creative, lighhearted, do microexperiment. Reconnect with your inner child and find wonder again.

Who Knows? Find your childlike curiosity to support you in life's uncertainty next time and you might see new perspectives and get unstuck.

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If you would like to reach out to someone to awaken your childlike curiosity, reach out to us for a coaching or emotional wellness session with Andelina Chong, a certified life coach online.