Google’s definition says it’s “the readiness to consider something without prejudice,” and then there’s George Bernard Shaw who once said, “Those who can’t change their minds, can’t change anything.” I don’t know about that, but I do know that when I take a look around these days, it seems open mindedness is a phrase a lot easier said than put into practice.
I truly believe open mindedness is a pursuit; a journey with a destination which one must reconcile to never fully reach, but unlike most, I happen to think that it’s as much a matter of the heart as it is of the mind. After all, we’re first and foremost emotional beings, born of instinct, curiosity, and feeling. The mind sharpens over time, or as some may say, the heart hardens.
Stop Looking in Your Baggage
We’re all a sum of our experiences, and well, honestly those aren’t always good ones. We form opinions, and beliefs out of these moments and store our traumas like clothes carried around in invisible baggage; some carrying much more than others. We call upon our past experiences to help us navigate and move forward when we’re uncertain. Should we always remember how far we’ve come? Absolutely, but I argue that if we keep looking back through those suitcases when we’re unsure, we’ll never actually change directions and we’ll find ourselves falling back into the same patterns. Working on ourselves is always a good place to start. Our past post for help dealing with trauma has some good tips.
Be Without a Doubt
Instead of allowing cynicism or derision to take ahold of us as we experience life’s ups and downs, what if we cultivated:
Curiosity – for what others think, and for all the possibilities around us
Empathy – to believe everyone is doing their best with what they have in each moment
Composure – to allow ourselves to be questioned without reciprocating feelings of anger or fear
Humility – because no one knows it all, we’re all a work in progress, and changing comes with learning
Patience – to listen and hear, not just respond, because we all want to feel heard, and
Acceptance – since we all have a right to our opinions, and we can agree to disagree
Author and shame researcher, Brené Brown, often refers to Wholehearted Living, a concept she comes back to in several of her books that’s centered around being our vulnerable, unabashed selves, and owning our truths in order live wholeheartedly. Remember it starts within each of us.
Room For Our Views
Every time we turn around a new, faster way of communicating, sharing information, or reaching people is released, and the pace at which we live seems to hasten year after year. We all fall prey to being over-booked or over-stimulated by technology at times, and both directly inhibit our availability to process the many heavy topics out there, which in turn can cause overwhelm and lead to total shut down. Without time to consider information, how do we generate truly informed opinions? Consciously make room to sit with your thoughts and in your emotions to better understand why you think and feel the way you do. In our efforts to learn more about a topic we owe it to ourselves to look at both sides of a story or argument, remembering that much of technology is guided by algorithms that are programmed to feed us more of what we search for, so why not search for a new perspective in books, videos, or podcasts about open mindedness and put into practice shifting your perspective.
Written by Melanie Robitaille
