Choose Happiness - Curiosity Edition

“Curiosity is one of

the great secrets

Choose Happiness

of happiness.” ~ Bryant McGill

Cover Image: www.gloss.co.nz 0

Lee Alpern (Contributor, Copy Editor) Susan Collicot (Contributor, Copy Editor) Nance Firth (Contributor, Art Design) Rogenia Goza, Ph.D. (Co-founder, Contributor, Editorial Oversight) Debi Hoos-Lemke (Contributor, Research, Copyright) Regina Hardy (Contributor, Correspondence) Sherry Tuffin (Co-founder, Contributor, Editorial Layout) 1

Table of Contents

2

To Be Determined

3

THINGS I’M CURIOUS ABOUT (that make me happy)

BOOKS “Books don’t have

covers, they have doors.” ~Jonathan Rand

Often If you have a curiosity about people consider yourself lucky. If you aren’t curious about people I suggest you find a way to develop an interest.

I admit that I often suffer from short-sightedness about my fellow humans. I see the superficial, the obvious and totally miss the fascinating soul that dwells just beneath the surface. When you look at an elderly person do you instantly categorize them “old” and move on? I know I’ve been guilty of that at times to my shame. What would you think if you found out, as I did, that the person you dismissed as ‘old’ had been a twelve year old girl when the Nazis invaded her village in France? Would you be interested to know that her father joined the Resistance or that her mother and grandparents hid Allied soldiers until the Resistance could help them escape?

wrapped in a blanket and left in a snowbank.

Someone came along and found me. I never knew who my biological parents were. But I was adopted by wonderful people who loved me and I have had a great life. So you see my life has a happy ending.” Bet you don’t look at a senior citizen the same way again.

I have met heroes, eccentrics, psychos, comedians, geniuses, idiots, lost souls, role models, stars, winners, losers and so many more.

I am constantly surprised by people. Meeting and getting to know people can be a rich and varied source of immense happiness.

Look around you. You are surrounded by people that will astound you if you let them.

What about the aged gentleman at the local senior center who labeled himself a “snowbank” baby. When questioned, “What is a “snowbank” baby?”, he replied, “When I was a baby I was 4

THINGS I’M CURIOUS ABOUT (that make me happy)

PEOPLE “When we're connected

to others, we become better people.” ― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

If you have a curiosity about people consider yourself lucky. If you aren’t curious about people I suggest you find a way to develop an interest.

I admit that I often suffer from short-sightedness about my fellow humans. I see the superficial, the obvious and totally miss the fascinating soul that dwells just beneath the surface. When you look at an elderly person do you instantly categorize them “old” and move on? I know I’ve been guilty of that at times to my shame. What would you think if you found out, as I did, that the person you dismissed as ‘old’ had been a twelve year old girl when the Nazis invaded her village in France? Would you be interested to know that her father joined the Resistance or that her mother and grandparents hid Allied soldiers until the Resistance could help them escape?

wrapped in a blanket and left in a snowbank.

Someone came along and found me. I never knew who my biological parents were. But I was adopted by wonderful people who loved me and I have had a great life. So you see my life has a happy ending.” Bet you don’t look at a senior citizen the same way again.

I have met heroes, eccentrics, psychos, comedians, geniuses, idiots, lost souls, role models, stars, winners, losers and so many more.

I am constantly surprised by people. Meeting and getting to know people can be a rich and varied source of immense happiness.

Look around you. You are surrounded by people that will astound you if you let them.

What about the aged gentleman at the local senior center who labeled himself a “snowbank” baby. When questioned, “What is a “snowbank” baby?”, he replied, “When I was a baby I was

5

THINGS I’M CURIOUS ABOUT (that make me happy)

PLACES “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” ~Augustine of Hippo

Are you curious about exploring places? Do you have a favorite place? I have many favorite places. I’ve been very lucky and have travelled to many wonderful destinations. I’ve watched the sun come up over the Masai Mara in Kenya, stood on the Great Wall of China, and drank warm wine one winter night in Prague’s Old Town. Each of my foreign trips provides a well of wonderful memories. When I look out my window on a gray, snowy Michigan winter I can instantly escape back to a white beach and turquoise water of Cancun, Mexico.

makeshift fort that you and the neighborhood kids erected.

The beauty of favorite places is that you can enjoy them while you’re there and then over and over again as you relive them in your mind.

Happiness is a gift that keeps giving.

But you don’t have to travel half way around the world to find a special place. One of my favorite places was sitting on my Grandmother’s front porch on a summer day. What happy memories that image evokes. Maybe you remember going to the fair as a child and being dazzled by the bright lights while inhaling the sinful scent of cotton candy. I still fondly recall Midnight Mass and Christmas carols at the local Catholic Church. Maybe one of your favorite places was a

6

CURIO

7

SITY IDEAS

8

9

10

11