Being Curious

Is curiosity a good thing? If it’s good, why we have the old saying that goes, curiosity killed the cat? How much curiosity is too much? How should I manage my level of curiosity?

I am a curious person. In fact, everyone is. All humans are born curious. If not, we won’t be thinking for and seeking new ideas and having new inventions every day. Great people are curious people for example.

However, I found that curiosity may not always be a good thing lately. Asking too many questions may not be the right thing to do. And sometimes I realized that my questions have caused the person to get so annoyed, that the responses in replied were more likely to be ‘I don’t know… don’t ask me’.

And sometimes, some people don’t like to share their personal life or are not comfortable to share their experience. Being curious in this situation can turn out to be pretty daunting and risking his chances of getting negative responses.

Also, being curious about something for self-gain or self-advantage may not always be good. The negative intention underlying the many questionings may in fact cause the person to be extra cautious of what he is up to, and inevitably leads the person to have negative impression on him.

Being overly curious about what people are doing is not good as well. As much as I am interested in what people are thinking and how they are thinking, sometimes I think I am too curious about what they are doing. Thinking of this, I don’t think it is a wise idea to be curious about what others are doing. It’s not my matter or problem anyway. Why should I care? I must always remind myself of the phrase, ‘Mind your own business’.

Moreover, being overly curious about what people are thinking of you is never a good idea. Though it is good to think what people think generally about what you did and how you’d done. It is not wise to over indulge in their opinions, as you do what you think it’s best and right. Trust yourself. As I’d heard from one TVB drama, it said ‘Stand firm. If you think you do the right thing, you shall not be afraid of what’s coming on you.’ But very often, the struggle is the question of when do we know we are doing the right thing? I believe that having clear clarification and feedback from appropriate people can help justify our mind and thinking.

So now, the questions remain, when is it appropriate to draw the line? When do we know when we are being healthily curious and over curious? When should ask questions and when not?

I don’t know. But I know it’s important to ask the right question at the right time and maybe at the right place. And it’s something I should evaluate myself everyday.