If you are curious, chase it

​Seven years ago, I sat in a session at a conference that talked about the impacts of early childhood experiences on the development of our brain. In that moment, in the most real and powerful way ever, I became curious.

I left that conference and immediately started chasing that curiosity. I chased it in books and podcasts and movies and additional conferences.

I chased it to the discovery that early childhood experiences shape the construction of our brain. That brain then has a strong influence on the quality of our future relationships. And those relationships then become the best predictor we have of our future health and wellness.

That's a seven year summary of chasing my curiosity - a curiosity I continue to chase daily. But my purpose here isn't to talk about all I discovered in the chase, it's to point out how important it is to chase.

Later today, I will sit on a panel to discuss the work we've been doing across Virginia to promote mental health wellness the last several years. It's a panel I wouldn't have been invited to seven years ago, because before I chased that curiosity, I wasn't in a position to lead the kind of work we've been doing.

I think about that sometimes and wonder, what would have happened if I'd shown up to college curious about something. Because I surely didn't. I showed up to get a degree because successful people - people who want to make a good living - they have to have a degree.

Well I left college with a degree, but it's taken me decades to start feeling successful.

I spend absolutely zero time hoping my boys will go to college. On the other hand, I spend a lot of time hoping they will be curious. I hope curiosity bites them long before it bit me. Because once you are curious, the real opportunity for success and personal fulfillment - one in the same to me - that opportunity officially begins.

We have never lived in a better time in history to be curious. The answers to the things we are curious about are more within reach than ever; we can pursue them to deeper ends than ever.

But we have to chase.

If something crosses your mind today - or your heart - and you feel like it's a question begging for an answer, chase down that answer. And when you get to that answer, if the answer offers up an additional question begging for an additional chase - then chase.

I worry that too often we dismiss curiosity as just another random thought. We miss the chance to receive curiosity as a calling. But I'm here to tell you, sometimes that's exactly what it is - a calling.

And when we answer it, we have the chance to feel as successful as we might ever feel. So don't hide from curiosity. Answer it.