“It’s the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it”
Aristotle sets us the challenge. How good are you at respectfully entertaining perspectives you do not accept?
When we are able to master the refined art of OPEN-MINDEDNESS our head, heart and body are all working together (not against each other), having agreed to make some space to receive new information.
It is a time when we de-ego (understand perhaps we don’t know it all, and can’t do it all alone) and become willing to learn and be helped.
We know we are in a state of OPEN-MINDEDNESS when we are not attached to “past thinking patterns, behaviours or beliefs”, but open to entertaining and experiencing newness.
We do not always have to agree with new ideas presented to us, to learn valuable lessons from them. Sometimes discovering what new approaches won’t work for us is just as valuable as finding out what will.
Recovery circles taught me a great acronym years ago when I was struggling with “how” to live without drugs, alcohol, a man and fear. I was in a state of consistent overwhelm when I became a single mum because I had only learnt how to survive in life, I barely coped. I did not actually understand how to live and stand-alone without using booze, drugs or a male crutch to support me. I was close-minded in other words.
So nowadays any time I hear the word “how” arise in my own dialogue or from others I remember “how” is a clue in our language. The question of “how” sounds the alarm that I or another is just temporarily bogged down in the muddy state of survival, overwhelmed and close-minded. The solution always lies within the question of “how.”
The word “how” for me now stands for
H. is for “Honestly”
O. is for OPEN-MINDEDNESS and …
W. is for Willingly.
So “how” do we transform our fearful state of survival and close-mindedness into learning how to actually live and master OPEN-MINDEDNESS?
H.O.W?
It usually involves surrendering one of our emotional crutches in order to stand stronger in our truth. For some it is not booze, drugs or relationships, but maybe excessive emotional escapism used with food (over or undereating) and/or exercise (obsessed and emotionally out of balance self-righteously consistently escaping intimate times of relaxation, or becoming a couch potato refusing to move at all). And then there are the workaholics among us chasing the almighty dollar as an excuse, martyring themselves into emotionally unavailability, an expensive habit.
We improve our Emotional Fitness when we remember to face our fears and the need for growth and change …
Honestly, OPEN-MINDEDLY and Willingly?
May we all continue to better our ability to live and love with open hearts, open arms and OPEN MINDS from this moment forward.
Lotsa love Cynthia xxx
© Copyright 2016 Cynthia J. Morton Emotional Fitness™
This Word Vitamin is an excerpt from my latest bookset “The Four Seasons of the Heart”. If you would like to order your own full set of Daily Word Vitamins one for each day of the year, in book form for yourself or as a gift just click on the SHOP tab and place your order.
