Having rigid ideas about life keeps you rigid. You become locked into a particular perspective and can feel very threatened when someone else does not share your world view. But life is fluid. We see that via nature. Landscapes change with the seasons. The earth itself moves. It shifts and reformulates. Its boundaries change, perhaps very slowly but the earth moves.
When we lock ourselves in we are going against our nature. It makes sense. We are literally on a tiny rock in vast and seemingly limitless space. We have no idea if we’re the only human life form in the cosmos. Psychologically that can make us feel very fragile.
It causes us to seek out certainty. To know something definitely. It is our reaction to not really knowing who we are, why we’re here and how long we actually have on the planet. Our rigid tendencies come from a desire for safety.
Whenever new ideas are posited in the scientific or medical communities for example, there are always die hard resisters who struggle to accept the new theory. It can be seen time and again. There is something threatening about letting go of our certainty about things.
Yet being fluid in our thinking and beliefs is a desirable trait. A willingness to learn new things or new ways of doing things keeps the mind active. An active mind can staves off senility or Alzheimer’s.
Keeping an open mind means we don’t just blindly do what we’ve always done just because we’ve always done it. It allows us to change our position whenever a greater truth is demonstrated. It also doesn’t mean changing our minds on a dime. Having an open mind includes logical and considered thinking. It requires us to consider possibilities, even ones we may initially disagree with.
Knowing exactly why we disagree with something allows us to state our case effectively. The best debaters are good at what they do precisely because they can see both sides of an argument. They’re willing to go beyond what they actually believe in order to present a fair and reasoned argument. Yet most of us draw our lines firmly in the sand.
Our political affiliations often remain the same our entire lives. The kinds of people we spend most of our time with tend to be those that are most like us. That doesn’t mean we can’t be around those that think differently. It just means that we have preferences that cause us to feel more comfortable and relaxed.
But we can still remain open to differing points of view. Even if we secretly believe that our way is always the right way. Which to be honest, most of us do.
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You may also like, by Yve Anmore:
Are You The Manipulator in Your Relationship?
Dealing With a Toxic Workplace Environment
What Does It Take to Be a Great Liar?
When Men Compete Against Each Other, What Happens When They Don’t Win?
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