…That sometimes a mind needs to open even more?
There is nothing like a mind with a 360 degree availability.
I have always considered myself very open-minded. Those who have known or spent any time with me for any period or phase are aware of the diversity of my upbringing and experiences. I have, much like contemporaries, evolved and sometimes morphed from character to character taking each experience both successful and hard-knock into mental consideration for the pages that lay ahead.
…unlike others, however, I have a tendency of writing everything down in journals and blogs and reviewing it all over and over to make sure that I have some semblance of order. Picture an over-achiever taking notes furiously in the front row of a difficult professor’s hard to pass class.
Because sometimes the lessons are a bit hard to learn, aren’t they? And yet sometimes the lesson may simply be to allow the answers to arrive without all the note taking…. that old “watched pot never boils” theory of living.
One of the (many) things I have learned (and then subsequently re-learned on many more occasions) is that as much as I love change and the challenges it can provide… I am not a fan of looming unknowns and long periods of counter-productive play acting. Life is too short and if anything rings false it is the dishonesty of the games people play. Even if one eventually “wins” the games it strikes me as an insincere and counter-productive way to learn about ways to grow spiritually and secure a real feeling of happiness accompanied by pride and a dose of humility.
Whether or not I enjoy the experience described above is irrelevant in most of the moments it is happening. Another thing I’ve learned is that good or bad the experience is there for a reason. Truth be told I have choices. If there is a slow-moving change surrounding me I do have the option to walk away. The flip side of that story is that I must be learning something (or perhaps looking to learn something) because for whatever reason I am choosing to ride it out and see what happens.
Another lesson to be learned is in human nature. Why is it that sometimes things move slowly? Probably because there are no answers to resolve whatever is in need of resolution (in my head.) Sometimes answers don’t come in my time. Sometimes the answers simply don’t exist yet (or at all). And sometimes people are all dealing with their own versions of fear, doubt and confusion and simply avoid the aspects that might lead to the decisions that I believe are required.
Decisions can be very scary. I was once told that there are no wrong decisions… only consequences. The first part of that statement sounds rewarding and empowering… the second tends to make one stop and think about the decision making process all over again. Must everything be so cyclical?
No matter what it is I might over-think, decide or portray in my inner or outer worlds I still consider myself a man with a very open mind. But it is impossible to be open to absolutely everything. It is human nature to draw a line in the sand or set a personal limit in parts of life. Even if the lines and limits are moved or changed as time ticks they do exist for reasons.
Which would bring me to yet another lesson to be learned. WHY do we draw those lines? What purpose does setting a limit or making a decision serve if the whole picture is not being seen? If I am digging my heals in to the ground there is a reason conscious or unconscious. Perhaps the core of that reason is a very vital piece of information that should be examined and “allowed” in order for the mind to open just a little bit more… and perhaps even more so after that.
Fortunately for me a light bulb lit up today. Once I was further illuminated I was able to see a bit more clearly. With clarity the mind opens up and sees things through the fears and the walls that are carefully placed in order to “protect” us from potential threats that are often disguises and incorrect guesses of those aforementioned unknowns.
The bottom line of this lesson, however, is that I have not gotten any answers as a result…. just a bit of peace. I am still remaining out of the result but I am open to whatever that result may end up being. This will make the journey to the answer a hell of a lot easier and more pleasurable to endure.
Be Happy. Be Well. Be.
December 11th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Hey cousin—we, once again–are on the same spiritual page–I LOVE IT!