“Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton asked why.” — Bernard Baruch

Having raised a couple of exceptional humans with my collaborator bride, I appreciate the wisdom in nurturing curiosity and wonder in our children. Even as they now expand further into adulthood, we may still offer them clues about how to navigate the world through our example. I suppose we become successful in life when people view our perspective as some form of wisdom, instead of as an example of what not to do. We should aspire to always be the adult in the room, while entering that room with a playful, curious heart.

We step into the future as if turning the page in a mystery novel. Sometimes eager, sometimes fearful, but hopefully always with the ripe anticipation of something. Each day well spent with curiosity and wonder brings us progressively closer to that evasive goal of wisdom and personal excellence. We may know we’ll never reach either but still get closer with each day. We hand what we’ve learned to future generations with the hope that they’ll avoid the same mistakes we made.

Humanity celebrates discovery as milestones in our collective wisdom. Those millions of people who observed apples falling before Newton asked why knew the connection between their own two feet on the ground and that apple seeking to join the party, they just didn’t write it down and publish it first. We may all celebrate the discoveries and miracles in our everyday without the notoriety. The real question we must forever be asking ourselves is, what are we really looking for? And why does it matter anyway?