You showed up here as a tiny infant capable of an infinite number of potentialities. Many of your choices remain unexplored because of a hopefully well-intentioned conditioning program designed to make you fit the culture of your caretakers. You probably had next to no opportunity to disagree with the cultural and societal arrangements made for your life. All of this is good and well and I too inhabit to some of this as well (I love & need structure) but I too believe in optimism and being open to learning in all ways, not just one.
There may have been some adults who encouraged you to have an open mind, but if you’re honest with yourself, you know that your philosophy of life, your religious beliefs, your manner of dress, and your language are a function of what your tribe (and its heritage) determined was right for you. If you made any fuss about going against this preordained conditioning, you probably heard even stronger voices insisting that you get back in line and do things the way they have "always been done." Fitting in superseded having a mind that was open to new ideas. If you saw how I dressed sometimes, you’d probably make fun of me as my husband does at times…but hey, I like it, it’s me and I’m not gonna budge just to fit in….I know what I like…so what if I am 32 & wear items with skulls on it to my kids school functions. It’s not my clothes that define me. If others do not like what I am wearing....woop tee doooo! Now I do not dress like an ass…I prefer being tactful, I am a mother & wife but you get the gist of it. Some folks freak out over the tiniest things like a skull on a shirt, a persons age, & wear it's being worn due to societies conditiontionings.
I urge you to open your mind to all possibilities, to resist any efforts to be pigeonholed, and to refuse to allow pessimism into your consciousness. Having a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing seems to me to be one of the most basic principles that you can adopt to contribute to individual peace. How can anyone be a pessimist in a world where we know so little? A heart starts beating inside a mother’s womb a few weeks after conception, and it’s a total mystery to everyone on our planet. In comparison to what there is to know, we are only embryos. Keep this in mind whenever you encounter those who are absolutely certain that there’s only one way to do something.
Resist being a pessimist. Resist with all your might, because we hardly know anything at all in comparison with what there is to know. Can you imagine what a pessimist who lived only 200 years ago would think about the world we live in? Airplanes, electricity, automobiles, television, remote controls, the Internet, fax machines, telephones, cellular phones, and so on. All because of that spark of open-mindedness that allowed progress, growth, and creativity to flourish.
An open mind allows you to explore and create and grow. A closed mind seals off any such creative explanation. Remember that progress would be impossible if we always did things the way we always have. The ability to participate in miracles --true miracles in your life --happens when you open your mind to your limitless potential.
