How Much Hope Do You Have In The Future?

I recently demonstrated coopering at an elementary school and this gave me hope for the future. Why hope? The students had a genuine curiosity and willingness to guess.

You may be wondering why that gives me hope. I’ve learned from mentors and my own experience that questions and guesses open us up to new ideas. Our future is dependent upon new ideas.

What Does The Past Offer?

Some people wonder why I like history so much. It is a valid question. It is one I like to hear from people, because they are opening up to an idea, usually. Sometimes that question is asked in a way of condemnation. That is not useful.

What I get from looking at the past comes down to a few things:

Perspective – By looking at the past, I can see where we have been. I learn to not judge without understanding. It teaches me to ask more questions. Why was an ancestor a slaveholder? Why did he fight in that army? Is there a reason why he ran away from home? Why didn’t they move when everyone else was? Why did they live in poverty? How did they gain wealth? How did they lose it? What did they believe? How did that disaster effect them?
Knowledge I can apply – I learn things that I didn’t know. How to use a drawhorse to make odd shaped pieces of wood to fit an uneven wall. Can I learn to save seeds from what I grow and reproduce the same thing again? How do I heal a simple ailment?
Lost Ideas – Did you know that we don’t know how to do a lot of things that used to be common knowledge? Do you know how to make bread from starting your own natural yeast? Do you know how to milk a cow, make butter? How about making a bucket or a wagon wheel?
Gratitude – When you look to your family’s past, or that of your state or nation, you can find a lot of things to be grateful for that you may not otherwise consider. Will you soon be seeing the good that you have because of what others have done?

Focus Determines What Approaches You

When you think of your future, what is it you see? Are you holding in focus what you want, or are seeing near disaster or heartache? One thing I was so impressed with when I visited the school was that the kids had questions. Some were off the wall, but that is OK. They were relating an unknown, coopering, to what they understood.

Something I noticed was the teachers. Some just observed. Some engaged in the learning with their kids. Others focused on the “problem” kids, thus getting everyone focused on them. One teacher focused so much on them that I had to focus on her as a problem kid. She was so shocked to be called out as one of them. She knew it was true, as did I. (It takes one to know one well.) I choose to move past that. I look for what is next, and after pointing it out, we moved on with no problems from the problem kids, including the teacher.

Bring Joy By Being Inquisitive

The more you seek to understand, the imminent result is joy. I have mentors who point out that the more we get to know people, the more we like them. They are not talking about superficial things, but getting to know what is in their hearts. The things that frighten them or cause them grief, that which brings them joy, help us to see them as humans, like us.

Find out about people. Go deeper as people open up to you. What do they want to do soon? Are there future goals they have that you might help them with? What are they interested in? Could it fill a need you have? Yes, they may have answers you need, but if you don’t get to know them, how can you know?

One of the other benefits of being curious is that as you ask questions, you start to get knew ideas in response to your questions. Ask them out loud. Voicing them will bring more substance to them. Go for it! Your problems need answers. Seek them.