Turning to Wonder: A Skill to Utilize Often

In Parker Palmer’s Circles of Trust guidelines at the Center for Courage and Renewal, one of the thirteen guidelines is: “When the going gets tough, turn to wonder.”

Sometimes, when facing an issue at work (or home) that has you throwing some solid brain power at it to combat the emotional and mental stress said issue is causing, it’s nice to relax the brain a bit, to relax the game theory and other thinking tendencies we have that might cloak worries and fears.

There can be a fine line between game-theorizing and worrying.

Worrying, it’s worth noting, takes place on a piece of brain territory the size of a quarter, so it helps to include more of our gray matter when we sit with the conundrums we face. When we’re preoccupied with a problem at hand, it pays to suss out what is fear cloaked in rationalizations and what is real critical thinking. It’s also a skill to counteract worry with wonder.

Turning to wonder can be an additive layer to well-thought-out planning and strategizing.

Sometimes, wonder can feel more expansive, as if there’s no restriction, and there’s room to breathe into what is and what else might be coming down from beyond the horizon line. (You can often feel this feeling in your chest.)

Asking yourself “Wouldn’t it be great if…” and positing a response stated in the positive is another way to work with an issue where fear, worry, anxiety, and other unpleasant-ish feelings are cropping up and driving the trains of thinking.

Turning to wonder also involves more of your brain—executive functioning and the full neural network of the body’s wisdom. Turning to wonder allows you to rest your overworked thinking muscles and to trust that something else has your back in this.

Turning to wonder opens up curiosity and gives you more room for an expansive perspective. Wonder is an antidote to all kinds of worry-based scheming, plotting, and game-theorizing. It’s a good thing to carry along with you when you feel your worry machine kicking in.

How can you utilize this line in your daily life? When the going gets tough, or your mind starts spinning in fear-based thoughts, pause and wonder:

Hmmm. Wouldn’t it be great if…?

Want to learn how to harness the magic of wonder? Check out more insights from Allison Schultz in her post, Wondering About Wonder.