Do you find it easy to keep an open mind? Or are you someone who likes to hold firmly to your point of view? Do you tend to panic in a crisis, shutting down your options?
The Chinese cryptogram for crisis has the meanings of both "danger" and "opportunity." While we need to be aware of danger, prolonged dwelling in fear and doubt weakens us. Taking a deep breath in the moment, relaxing and being open to opportunity will help you in taking one step at a time. Sometimes, that is all we can see to do.
An open mind can best be found in the very young (those under, say, seven years old) and the very old -- although I am no longer certain what "very old" means these days. What about those of us in between?
We grow accustomed to our reality being a certain way, but what if that way is not as good as it could be and we have been making do with something lesser? What if you have been accustomed to living in a spacious house, for example, but now need to "right-size"? You could find that a smaller home fits your needs better, and that you enjoy the freedom of releasing excess.
If we allow ourselves to keep on our blinkers of the past, then we cannot be open to the gifts of the present and opportunities of the future that are coming towards us.
How does this help, practically speaking? Are you ever tempted to blame yourself or others for the discomfort, uncertainty, doubt and fear that you presently experience? Could you or "they" have done better? Possibly. But then when we truly know better, we do better.
Blaming whatever happened in the past closes our mind to what may be possible now. Our challenge is to allow the space, the openness, for our inner resources to handle the difficulty that comes forward, to be seeing our circumstances in new ways.
For the human spirit, no mountain is too high to climb, no river is too deep to cross. Never underestimate the capacity of the human spirit to bring about new solutions where there seem to be none.
In her recent article "Rethinking Our Conception of Leadership" Agapi Stassinopoulos tells the wonderful story of Mr Vasilio's stool, which speaks to me of the value of keeping an open mind and a caring attitude:
This summer I was in Greece working on a documentary on the Greek gods. For one of the shots, we were at a lovely vineyard that was taken care of by Mr. Vasilios. At some point during the shoot, we needed nails to hang something on a beam in the courtyard, but we didn't have any nails. I asked Mr. Vasilios if he had any nails. He said he didn't, but then he looked up in the air, paused and said, "Nails...hmmm...let me see." He looked down to the right where there was a little stool, pulled it apart and, to our amazement, produced six nails. Mr. Vasilios wanted so strongly to serve our need in that moment that he saw nails where none of us could see them. But of course, he was the caretaker of the vineyard. Day after the day, he was harvesting and taking care of the land. Caring was in Mr. Vasilios' DNA.
Opening your mind does not have to be difficult or hard to do. Gratitude for what you have presently is one mind-opener. A friend wrote in her recent blog addressing the profound loss of her beloved husband to cancer that "adopting gratitude opens my heart and becomes the gateway for goodness to flood through."
My own challenging times invite me to dig deeper and open to more of my spirit, to let go of attachments that may be in the way of a solution that is beyond my mind, and to surrender to what I know of the world as being a friendly place. Out of pride, you could feel shame for admitting the loss of a career, a lifestyle, a certain status and hide from those who would love to support you.
Please forgive, forgive, forgive. By forgiving yourself, others or feelings about the situation you are in, you reclaim your spirit over and above the shortcomings you see. It is that spirit within you that can restore your peace of mind, lighting your way forward and out of any dilemma you may be in. This spirit is one that cares.
We have eyes in the front of our heads. Our bodies are designed best for forward movement. If we were meant to live in the past, we might have eyes in the backs of our heads.
You cannot change what happened in the past, even one day ago. You can change your attitude about it. You can choose your thoughts and actions, now. You can create the future you want to experience.
Keep your eyes open for the wonderful new inventions and ingenuity that are being demonstrated. This one caught my eye recently:
And this report from the BBC shows how internet businesses are flourishing in the UK.
Can you see a solution to a current issue? What do you do to keep an open mind and heart? How do you care for yourself in a crisis? I would love to hear from you. I am listening.
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Gabrielle Bernstein: The Love Diet: Choosing the Thoughts You Digest
When I think of keeping an open mind, all I need do is remember our dog, Rosie Bell, who died in December. Right up to her last 2 seconds, she was open to the moment. Despite her enormous pain, she licked my nose. Talk about open. But, the other recollection, for which I think she is a superb sensai, is that she did not stay locked into previous disappointment, upset, or even joy. Like every great dog I've ever known, she would simply shake her coat, when onto the next activity, as if to say, what is past is past. Now is the time for what is. In all seriousness, she was our master teacher for keeping an open mind in the current crisis, even in her death. We miss her. We are grateful for her.
And, how grateful I am for you, Anne.
Cara
Always good to read your contributions here.
With love and blessings to you
Anne
I love this video about turning plastic trash into treasured oil. It really is all in the perspective. I have learned to ask myself "how is this for me?" whenever I get into a crisis and can't see my way through. Invariably I find that by asking good questions I get far better answers. I love how you linked the themes of keeping an open mind and creativity. It is truly amazing what resources and creative ideas come to us when we are open to receive them. We don't need to have the answers already. We just need to remain open to receive them and trust that they will come.
Thanks for another wonderful post.
Blessings,
Judith
As has been alluded to, one must sink down into a 'more substantive consciousness', i.e. THE HEART, which also, read 'corazon' has the same root as 'courage' in order to OPEN.
I suspect this is what is many people's challenge, as love and openness is what emerges along with the solution to the seeming crisis. It is a death of sorts as well, which may compound the fear.
Good Reminders Anne!
Az.
I see a way to keep an open mind when faced with crisis by accepting what is and appreciating my place in it. For me it has helped to be in observation mode. I try to watch all things including my thoughts. No expectations and no judgments. I accept what now offers because it’s not long before change comes and there will be something else.
When we learn to ride the highs and lows equally the same we become flexible and capable of navigating rough tides or crisis.
The question in all of this is, what if this isn’t a crisis but rather the way it is going to be? After all, this anticipation of some sort of return to the familiar has been hanging over us for over 2 years now.
Thank you for reminding us all!
Loving You,
Eli
So good to see you here! Thank you.
You personify the essence of joy and strength, always inspiring me.
All of God's abundant blessings and love to you,
Anne
I love that you're writing about the capacity of the human spirit to overcome, endure and triumph, no matter what the circumstances. We are so much greater than we can possibly imagine. We only need know that the solutions we seek are inherent within the challenges themselves.
I consider it a blessing and an honor to be part of this community and to share in the goodness that is expressed herein.
Much love to you,
Judith
Thank you for dropping by and for being a wise and caring member of this community. I too feel blessed to share in it.
Sometimes, it is not until we meet a crisis that we see the magnificence of the human spirit and all of the blessings it brings forward.
With loving, peace and joy to you,
Anne
If they were in France, they would probably be on strike as quite a few others have been recently.
I needed to take the time and read your article. I for one appreciate learning from others. I do not like to argue however I can debate if needed. Opposing views, if you actually listen, can define crucial moments when an answer is artfully achieved.
I love your name! Learning from others saves me time and deepens my own connection to what is true for me.
"If you actually listen" speaks to me of being open. Thank you for your wise words and contribution here.
With love and joy to you,
Anne
You ask:
What do you do to keep an open mind and heart?
Relax my mind, meditate and breathe into my heart! Pay attention and listen. Be accepting of others and be present.
How do you care for yourself in a crisis?
Breathing is so helpful - meditate if possible - be calm - stay centered.
I hear you!
Your words have centredness and peace with them. I love "breathe into my heart" - that is the best and for staying present in the loving.
With love and appreciation to you as always,
Anne
I thought, how am I going to get along without him. I was crushed. It is now almost November and I am learning that change IS good for me. I am doing things I could not before. He was very ill and all of my attention had been focused on him and now I can focus on me, for the first time in many years. I love and miss him, but am enjoying the freedoms I have not had in a long while.
I am learning that I still have an active and intelligent mind and CAN make decisions on my own.
I am looking forward to many more changes that may be coming my way in the future. I can't wait to see what those might be.
Your comment is inspiring to me - thank you so much for taking the time to write. I am sorry to hear about your sad loss, and sense how deeply you must have felt it.
I love your courage and spirit of optimism for the future. May you enjoy many happy years and delightful adventures to come.
With love and appreciation to you,
Anne
I am also inspired by your sharing here. Loss and grief are difficult and challenging at best and many people never recover to find the newfound freedom you're discovering. At the risk of using another cliche (as I see the "cliche police" are out) yours is a perfect demonstration of "one door closing and another door opening". Yes, your old life with your husband is over, and a new life awaits. And yet, his love will always be part of you and will forever be woven into all that unfolds from here. Here's to many new doors to open and a joyous life ahead.
Many blessings to you,
Judith
I WILL get stronger as time goes on, I know that I can do this. My husband would not have wanted me to crawl into a shell, I know that he is watching and cheering me on.
Thank you so very much for all of your support. We had a little code for saying "I love you in public, which we put on the inside of our wedding bands. His code word was "olive' (I love you), mine was "martini" (me too). I now wear both rings around my neck on a chain close to my heart and when I get sad I just look at the two rings and I feel better.
Please try writing without using worn out cliches.
From my perspective, that's a great summation of our current economic crisis - we see our reality changing, and that feels like a crisis. But it seems to me that the world has operated for the last century or so on the premise that the Western world was the consumer sector and the rest of the world was a source of supply, both of natural resources and labor. My favorite statistic is that 5% of the world’s population – Americans – consume 25% of the world’s oil. That kind of fundamental imbalance is morally outrageous and practically unsustainable. We have, in fact, been “making do with something lesser†in that we’re trying to live with an unbalanced structure. Western society embraced greed as a virtue, and that was a choice with consequences.
The current crisis isn’t just making us right-size our lives; it’s making the world rebalance itself. Big shifts in the world’s economic structure are never comfortable, but they’re often necessary, and, if people understand them and even embrace them as being “rightâ€, they’re not quite as frightening. “Do to others as you’d have them do to you†is an ethic that is found in all religious traditions – and it’s an active principle of life. Our current crisis is that the world started enforcing it.
No, he doesn't have the freedom that he normally has, because he doesn't like that cooler air and he'll just have to wait until it warms up before he goes out and patrols his territory. But for the time being, he has food and water in his bowls, a cat box in the corner and my lap to sleep on. It could be worse. After all, there are cats who ACTUALLY DO live in Siberia.
I love your vision of the world rebalancing itself, and the wisdom you have expressed here. Thank you for stopping by.
The current global changes feel that way to me too. As I observe what is taking place in Africa, for example, with young Africans so keen for education now and having access to the internet, I can see that one day, Africa could be a very rich source of human creativity and energy,
In the future, we could be learning to embrace and enjoy some very different cultural expressions.
Thank you also for sharing about your cat. What is hisr name? He sounds like a character who is pretty well looked-after. Nothing for him to complain about there!
With love and appreciation to you,
Anne
Thank you for your reply and for the consistently thought-provoking blogs. I'd never really thought of the idea of the world rebalancing itself until you triggered that idea. You're a real blessing to me and my family, and we wish you the best, even in difficult times - and I hope your mom dad are doing well, too, they sound like wonderful people.
Also - you may have intercepted a pretty snarky reply that I made to another comment and deleted it, or else one of the moderators did. I'm glad you did, I'm trying to practice Lawson Meadows' "respond rather than react" ethic but I'm not very good at it yet. As I think back on it, my comment was just a shade on the wrong side of the "good taste" line. I'm a work in progress, and the work is going pretty slow...
Blessings to you,
Sam and Sharon