In Search of Wonder

This past week, for the first time all year, it felt like winter had finally loosened its grip. The sun was shining, the air was warm, and the temperature climbed close to 70 degrees.

It was the perfect day for my daughter’s first official hike.

We set off to my favorite spot in Garden of the Gods (Colorado Springs), a place that once—millions of years ago—was an ocean. It’s hard to fathom, standing in the middle of the country, surrounded by mountains and red earth, but if you know how to look, you can still feel the ocean’s lingering presence.

To entice my daughter along the trail, we turned the hike into a scavenger hunt: find a pinecone, an animal, and a heart-shaped rock.

As we walked, she stopped at a resting spot, captivated by the softness of the red earth beneath her feet. She knelt down, pressing her hands into the sand, swirling it between her fingers as if discovering some ancient magic. Watching her, I resisted the urge to rush her along. Despite the mess, I let her explore.

She was lost in a trance of wonder.

As she gathered what she called her “magic sand” into a pile, carefully scooping it into my reusable bag, I let myself pause, too. I listened to the rustling of trees, the sharp call of a blue jay, the rhythmic tapping of a distant woodpecker, the honking of geese overhead. I let the noise of the world fade away.

How many times in the last week have you allowed yourself a moment of wonder?

I’ll be honest, before that walk, I’d been feeling heavy. 2025 hasn’t been easy. Worry had been clouding my mind, and I felt stuck in its relentless swirl. But stepping into nature, shifting my focus, and embracing awe gave me exactly what I needed: a reset.

The scavenger hunt became more than just a fun game—it was a reminder of how powerful our focus can be. We found an animal quickly, thanks to the cows, sheep, and chickens at the nearby farm. Surprisingly, the pinecone was the hardest to spot. But the heart-shaped rock? It appeared just when I was intentionally looking for it.

And that’s when it hit me.

One of my favorite concepts in positive organizational development is appreciative inquiry—the idea that what we focus on grows. What we appreciate, appreciates. The questions we ask and the lens we choose to see the world through shape our reality. If we focus on problems, we find more problems. But if we focus on beauty, connection, and possibility, those things expand, too.

This week, I started my final class before completing my master’s degree in positive organizational development—a journey I began over seven years ago. I pursued this degree because I fell in love with the idea of looking for what we want more of, rather than just fixing what’s broken.

And on that trail, surrounded by the quiet wisdom of nature and the unfiltered curiosity of my daughter, I was reminded of that simple but profound truth.

In these challenging times, we have a choice.

We can look for heart-shaped rocks or we can focus on the doom and gloom.

Either way, we’ll find what we’re searching for.

So, what will you look for this week?

Share your thoughts in the comments or hit reply.

For the world needs who you were made to be!