Life Changing Ideas

As we proceed through our lives, there will be, from time to time, ideas that change our lives forever. I have experienced such ideas, as I am sure you have as well. During this Coronavirus Pandemic, I have seen very few of these ideas emerge. This has troubled me. As a true thinker and seeker of greater understanding, I have asked myself, “is this true?” “Have I missed, some really extraordinary ideas?” “Or, is something going on here that is getting in the way of new, innovative ideas?”

My examination of what’s going in our world has led me to some interesting observations. I’d like to share a few of them with you. First of all, how arrogant so many of us are (me definitely included), to believe we can be aware of even a fraction of the new, innovative ideas that are presented every day. Second, with the world so focused on the Pandemic, most great thinking is having a difficult time getting anyone to pay attention. Third, in times of great threat, huge masses of people pull back into their own “safe-space” of thinking, which makes innovative contemplation much more difficult. Fourth, the political climate of the US, and many other parts of the world, is so dysfunctional that it has become hazardous to be an innovative idea generator. Finally, because this pandemic has not only had physical health consequences but social, emotional, psychological, and spiritual consequences as well, too many people have not been ready to listen innovative, life changing ideas.

This realization, that Covid has really messed up “our thinking,” has led me to my latest life changing idea. Openness is essential for living our fullest life! Being closed makes it impossible to be fulfilled. This may not be an earth shattering concept to you, but I had never given this idea much thought in the past. As I have investigated what’s going on in our world today, I see the incredible damage that being a closed society has done! When an entire society engages in “closed behaviors,” the number of victims pile up. I had previously thought that most victims are only victims because they think of themselves as victims. I now see that closed societies thrive on victimization. It is how they maintain their status quo. Open societies, in contrast, are diminished when anyone is victimized!

So, how do we change from closed to open? It is a very simple but very difficult process. It’s simple because all you have to do is accept everyone as your complete, unconditional equal. It’s difficult because our biases will get in the way of that unconditional acceptance. Most of us will rationalize our rejection of some people because of who they are and what they’ve done. That, however, is mistaken thinking. Accepting people does mean we have to accept their behavior. Rejecting people does not mean that we have rejected their behavior. We too often reject people because we think they have, or might in the future, do something we find unacceptable. And, we too often accept people because we feel like they would most likely do what we would do without any evidence that the notion might be true. Being open is simple but hard. Being closed is very complicated but pretty easy to do. Being open requires us to engage in self examination. Being closed does not. Self examination requires that we take a very critical look at our own motives and biases. This is not comfortable. And this is the most striking aspect of an open society; they are not built for comfort. In fact, all open societies are less comfortable than closed societies! This makes them less desirable in the eyes of many people but more important than ever.