Curiosity Killed The Cat

The proverb, curiosity killed the cat, holds a different meaning to me than its intended purpose.

In a nutshell, “Curiosity killed the cat” is a proverb used to warn of the dangers of unnecessary investigation or experimentation.

For me, I always thought it was the curiosity of not knowing something that kills you. The yearning and desire to try something or take a leap and never fulfilling it, to me, leads to regret, and in the end, the regret you have is what kills you.

After speaking to many people, my interpretation seems to be incorrect, but you know what, I think it’s a much better outlook on life.

Whenever I’m asked what my biggest fear is, my number one is always, having regrets (closely followed by ghosts/anything paranormal, aliens, the dark and walking home by myself at night)

In high school, I had a dream of going on exchange overseas for a couple of months and I constantly put off the idea as I never thought it’d be a possibility. Fast-forward to uni and every semester I’d check out my university’s partner schools across the globe and daydreamed of studying in Paris or London. I had five whole years to make the jump but my apathy and lack of confidence to do it got the better of me.

This is one of my biggest regrets to date and the curiosity into what might have been, had I have gone on the exchange, slowly eats away at me. 

I promised to never let something that scares me stop me from undertaking a new adventure. If you haven’t read the post yet, my insurance to reduce (or better yet, remove) regrets from my life is to continue to tick off items on my bucket list.

At times, the items on there seemed impossible and many of them still unticked will be a big task, with some bordering a little more dangerous than others. If life doesn’t make your heart rate increase or fill your mind with wonder and awe, are you doing it right?

In December last year, I reflected on what I had achieved in 2018 and it scared me that I spent the whole year ‘coasting’ through. I didn’t push myself into anything new and nothing really stood out to me. 

What an awful way to look back at 365 days and think I didn’t squeeze as much out of every day.

I wasn’t curious enough and as a result, I didn’t do very much at all. 

So I’ve made 2019 my year.

I’m not usually one for goal setting but it sure does help to keep you on track. This year I not only set and achieved the following goals, but I also took on the mindset to be open to say yes.

• Meet and exceed the number of page views on the blog from the previous year 
• Make meaningful relationships with friends and colleagues 
• Pitch, write and have an article published on another site 
• Take the jump and apply for a full-time writing job 
• Bought a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes 
• Feature on a French TV show 
• Travelled to New Zealand
• Plan  my wedding 
• Keep up the blog 

The above might come across as bragging, but a good friend of mine and his friends catch up regularly for dinner and ‘brag’ nights whereby attendees share all the kick-ass things they’ve done in the last month. I love this idea and think this is something I need to adopt in my life with friends and family.

So in essence, all I’m saying is, try and adopt my interpretation of curiosity killed the cat from time to time because I can tell you, it’s a lot more fun.

I’m not suggesting you be reckless and irrational and quit your job with no backup plan, but rather just be open to being curious.

Swap hesitation for calculation, be courageous whilst scared and remember  “When you’re curious, you find lots of interesting things to do!”

-tgfs x