BUILDING CHARACTER AND RESILIENCE

"Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old." - Franz Kafka

Awe is a sense of wonder and appreciation for something beautiful or impressive. Busyness can dull our sensitivity to beauty, but awe is the starting point for humility and gives us a whole new lens through which to view our lives.  We should look for the beauty in all things and people, including ourselves such as the marvelous and complex structure that is the human body.

On a practical note, awe can look like an appreciation for things such as science, art, music, economics/business or nature.  It can also mean being awestruck by the human body's ability to birth a child or an architect's creativity in designing buildings and monuments. 

Awe and the appreciation of beauty has a positive influence on our mental and physical health.   Through awe we can learn compassion, perspective and how to behave more considerately towards others.  By being in awe of a majestic feat of nature, such as Uluru, we can realise our true place in the world and prevent arrogance and self-centredness.

When was the last time you stopped to marvel at natural beauty?