Change is good. Be open.

It's been said that "minds work best when open."  The same has also been said about parachutes.  No one would attempt to use a parachute that wasn't fully open.  Sadly, this is not always the case with our minds.

​Many of us go through life with a mind closed off to certain possibilities.  It takes courage to be open towards what we don't understand, or to listen to a point of view that is different from our own!

I recently visited a non-profit organization to learn about the services they offer the community.  I will soon deliver training to them on resiliency and wanted to learn more about their work.  This organization serves children with behavioral issues; they seek to help these children grow, and they partner with their families to empower the parents with needed skills.  It is very meaningful work, and challenging at times for the staff.  While visiting, I witnessed a young girl act out very aggressively towards one of the therapists.  The therapist quietly removed the child from the group and began to address the behavior.  It was so common an issue that the therapist had trained herself not to take the behavior personally!  She simply moved right onto the solution, which in this case, was to lovingly give an appropriate consequence so the child could learn to change the behavior.  It was deeply touching to observe this.

Afterwards I reflected on the symbol that the interaction seemed to represent.  How quickly we can get caught up in a dead-end way of thinking when things do not go as we expect!  If someone else disagrees with us and voices their opinion, it’s so easy to take it personally!  What if we just didn’t give ourselves permission to take it personally?  If that were not an option, we would move right onto solutions, and open our minds to new possibilities. 

May this story inspire you on your journey.  And as a bonus, enjoy this new video and the quick tip to staying open-minded (it's the first video on the page).  Like the video? We’re putting new ones up every week. Visit our YouTube channel and be sure to subscribe!