You know what I find really interesting? When someone is moaning about how life sucks and yet they are so set in their ways they refuse to open themselves up to new thinking. Do you imagine that if you had all the answers then there’d be nothing to moan about? Well, you would think so.
And when someone is so rigid in their thinking they believe that their belief is the only way, what is that saying about everyone else’s beliefs? Does that mean that the rest of us are all wrong because we differ in opinion or in how we go about our life?
One of the things I really love about our world is that we are all so different. We have our cultures, our upbringings, our values and thousands of other things that make us unique. What you do in your life and your culture may not be what I do but I’m not about to say you are wrong and I am right! We are both right…for us.
But I don’t want to focus on whether beliefs are right or wrong. What I want to talk about is rigid thought patterns and behavior that don’t allow for healing and growth. How rigid are you in your thinking and do you allow space for new possibilities?
- “It won’t work”.
- “You’re wrong”.
Both of those statements can be correct or incorrect, depending on your point of view and what situation you’re talking about. If I said to you, “Tie a towel over your shoulders and jump off a three-storied building and you’ll fly” you could rightly say to me, “It won’t work Lois.” Or if I said to you, “1+1=3” you could say to me, “You’re wrong.”
But when it comes to the way we live our life, there really are no rights nor wrongs…there just is the way you are doing it (and the way I’m doing it…and the way he is doing it…and the way she is doing it…and the way your neighbor is doing it…).
My point is, if the way you are doing it is serving you well, then keep doing whatever you are doing! But if life is not really all you want it to be, then opening yourself up to new possibilities and new trains of thought could be just what you are needing to take yourself there. You can choose to agree or you can choose to disagree…that’s where you engage your filters. Every day we receive messages and signals into our brains and into our hearts, and we decide what we want to take on board and what we want to discard. But at the end of the day it all comes down to choice and no-one is forcing you to do anything you don’t want to do.
Yes, life does suck occasionally and some of us have to deal with pretty tough stuff as we go through our lives. But don’t you find it interesting how some people who have been through the hardest of times can be so optimistic? They’re the people who see life for what it is…an endless bounty of experiences and opportunities. They’re the people who are flexible in their thinking and seek to look at everything with wonder and interest. They remain open and willing to receive.
Are you holding onto some rigid thought patterns and beliefs? Just remember…
“The mind is like a parachute…it works best when it is open!”
