by: Liane Schmidt
Everyday is a new opportunity; new doors can open, new treasures can be discovered, new things can be learned.
When we were children this is exactly how most of us saw life. We were young, we believed we could do anything. This kept every moment exciting, electrifying. We could do, be, hope, and make ourselves as happy as possible at any given moment with just our imaginations. If we wanted to be a princess or the President of the United States, wah lah - in the blink of an eye - we were. We changed how we were acting and became whatever character we wanted to be. Though we may not realistically hold these titles, we can still “be” these people, by living as they do; living by doing our very best to make this world a better place. Titles do not make people great, people make people great.
For many, however, this is not easily achieved for life, time, fears, traumatic experiences, etc. have often stripped away this idealistic mindset. If you touch fire, you learn to never do it again. But, because we have learned how to see fire for its strengths and weaknesses, we as society have been able to learn from it and allow it to enrich our lives and make our world a better place. If we had just discarded it after it first hurt us we all would have lost out on the limitless benefits it can provide.
This is not to down play the importance of the known, safety, and being cautious. Taking time to make wise decisions without jumping into any new situation too soon; habits, yearly customs, etc. all have intrinsic value. With such widely televised events like the Olympics countries have been known to put aside violent warring disputes in order to participate. This is an unbelievably powerful feat; this alone is a miracle.
The trouble comes to play when people continue to only cling to known or unfounded assumptions and discard all opportunities to learn and hence discard valuable opportunities to grow emotionally, spiritually, etc. This can lead to unfortunate self-sabatoging. For example, if one believes all parking meter officers are rude, most likely the next one they encounter will be. How we think of others is often a self-fulfilling prophesy. This idea can be applied to all things in life.
“The more you learn, the less you realize you know.” This quote is beyond significant.
When one learns something new their world is broadened, their heart often moved.
Remain open, surprised, alive to all the endless possibilites life will always have to offer. Leave your heart as unfettered, unbiased, and open as possible. It will keep you young and full of life. It will make your life even more beautiful than you ever imagined possible.
My best wishes to all.