Curiosity Can Create Abundance

​If we do the same thing as we have always done but expect a positive outcome it will be impossible to achieve.
 
Even as a child I was never satisfied for very long with typical toys. I was a curious kid wanting to experience more. Growing up my curiosity often landed me in the emergency room! I wanted to be Tarzan so I swung from a rope that my grandfather had left tied to a building. The rope broke I fell on a shovel and I was quickly rushed to the emergency room to get stitches. I felt confined playing in our small back yard so I decided to climb the fence to visit a neighbor. I got to the top of the fence and fell over to the other side. I landed on my head and once again I was brought to the emergency room for more stitches. Thank heavens I still have hair on my head otherwise I would appear as a wounded war veteran to my grandchildren.
 
In spite of all the anguish I must have caused my parents that curious spirit was never tamed. My wife can verify that because she often tells me I am the most curious person she has ever met.
 
For years I have made it a practice to look through magazines that were outside of my typical interests while waiting to visit a client or in the waiting room of a doctor’s office. This always expands my thinking and broadens my interest in unfamiliar areas.  I first started doing this when I was in the military. I was reading an article in Time magazine about a satellite commination company that was getting ready to open and shares of stock were offered. This was 55 years ago when no one was aware that this would become the wave of the future. When I got discharged and came back to the states I did something I would not recommend to anyone. I borrowed money to purchase shares in this new company. The company had immediate success! I sold the stock and doubled my investment. I paid off the loan and used the profit to purchase my first rental property.
 
When we were a newlywed couple I wanted to go on a retreat with my wife. The typical retreats that were offered were for men or women but not couples.
While waiting for to see a client I picked up a magazine and was drawn to a story written by a couple who had made a Marriage Encounter weekend in Texas. I told my wife that I wanted to go on a weekend retreat like the one I read about but did not want to travel to Texas to do so.
 
Two weeks later we went to visit a priest friend at a local retreat house and he informed us that he was hosting a Marriage Encounter weekend in a few weeks. We signed up that evening and the rest of the story changed our lives. On that weekend experience we were selected to be a team couple to give these weekends throughout the country. That mission in life continued for five years.
 
Abundance is not limited to financial success. It is accepting the invitation to live life to the fullest. During those five years of working with married couples we felt strongly we were doing exactly that. We were young, totally dedicated to this commitment. At that time we put the financial planning aspect of abundance on hold. There is a lot more to the story that I will share with you in later postings.
 
This week allow your curiosity to soar. Read something you typically do not read, try a new experience or eat a meal at a restaurant you never have been before.