Sometimes curiosity is a driving force. It propels you to explore and experiment, to seek answers to important questions. It pushes you to greater action.
But not always. Curiosity, as incredible as it is, can also be a sticky tar that traps you in place. If you’re curious about the future or the present, it’s often the former. But curiosity about the past can be the latter.
Backward-looking curiosity can cause you to over-analyze, to dwell, and to constantly second-guess yourself until you’re paralyzed. You can’t move forward because there’s still so much to discover about what’s already happened!
But here’s the thing: there always will be. You will never finally turn over that last stone or solve that final riddle that makes everything that came before make perfect sense. You’ll never reconcile the past that was with the past you wished for.
You can align the future of your dreams with the future that’s coming, though. And curiosity about the path will get you there. So let the burning desire for knowledge and insight rage in your heart! But make sure it’s powering a steam engine taking you into the future, not melting you down into immobile slag.
The Opportunity Machine 