You have open heard the terms open-minded and closed-minded. What do they mean, and why should we be open?
An open minded person is one who is open to new experiences, events and people, who does not have too many prior judgments or biases, and one who is willing to go with the flow, take a few risks or chances in life, and see where it leads him or her. On the other hand, a closed person is one who has a fixed set of beliefs, conditonings, attitudes, judgments, biases, prejudices, worres, anxities, and fears, and would rather play it safe than take any chance with life.
We are either open or closed in many areas in our lives. A person who is closed in one area might be open in another. Some are closed to a larger percentage, which others are open to a higher percentage. All of us have our worries and fears, which often make us close up and contract, but, by and far, if we are able to be more open, we will experience this life more deeply, more intensely, and more joyously.
Life here is an experience, for all of us, from birth to death. And we can experience life in a shallow fashion, superficially, detached and building tall walls around us, or we can plunge into life and enjoy it intensely. That choice or option is always with us. But since this life is all about experiencing various aspects of physical, mental, emotional, environmental and spiritual elements that exist, why not experience them more or deeply or thoroughly? Why not make this life count, so that at the end you can say to yourself "I lived, experienced and enjoyed this life very well, No regrets", instead of lying on your death bed and feel only regret, anger, remorse and resentment, for all that you did not give yourself permission to experience?
A person who is open minded is always learning and growing while one who is closed learns and grows little. The world has so much to offer us, if only we are willing to open up, see and understand and accept. Whether is is clothes, food, fashion, culture, innovations, advancement, or even religion, there is always great benefit of being open, and taking the good things from everywhere. Most of us practice our religion, almost exclusively, and yet, we all know that every religion has much wisdom, knowledge and faith, to offer us. The same is true of food. Every cuisine has something that our native cuisine doesnt, and if we are open to trying, we will get the best of Indian, Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Vietenamese, Italian, French or English cuisine, to name a few. Otherwise we will be stuck with just our native cuisine, safe but mundane. Likewise, every religion is brimming with wisdom and knowledge. waiting for us to imbibe them. So with clothes, cultural heritages, rituals, procedures, methods, way of life, technology, innovation, reading, music--------the list is endless
Someone who is closed and living inside his bubble has stopped learning and growing. His life will continue to exist in the bubble, while the world outside is so vast, so magnificent, so fantastic, and growing and evolving at a rapid pace. But to step out of your closed minded bubble, takes awareness and courage. You will have to fight your own beliefs and self-imposed restrictions, your conditionings, social dogma, cultural biases--basically you will have to identify and dismantle every chain that is imprisoning you-- to be able to break free of your safe bubble. And yet, if you are open, willing to learn, and can muster up awareness and courage, this life will surely be more colourful, more enriching, more satisfying and more joyous. The egomind will always try and defend your "status quo" and prevent you from being open to listening, learning and growing, because the job of the egomind is to keep your protected and safe. But safety and protection have to be balanced with movement and growth. If we were to only rely on safety, no one would be able to drive a vehicle on the roads because there is always an elemant or risk, when you drive on the road and the fear would hold you back.
If you are more inclined towards being closed, take a moment to reflect on your life and see where there is an imbalance of safety and security over adventure and growth and try to re-set that balance to healthier levels.