When I was a kid, I was curious about a nest of wasps and mud daubers inside a tire swing. Curiosity led me to getting stung just below my right eye. In that moment, I learned to be afraid of wasps.
Today, I still feel a slight twinge of caution when a wasp flies near. However, I’ve also re-trained myself to be curious again… with boundaries. Those boundaries are a healthy respect for the wasp and an understanding that that wasp may not know my intentions are to just look. There is a trigger on the wasp’s end of feeling threatened and needing to defend. Understanding that allows me to move my fear back to curiosity, combined with respect.
This applies to so many things in my life. And what I’ve come to understand is this…
Curiosity is innate. Fear is learned.
Sometimes what comes first is the thing to hold onto.
