Category: Life Skills

Meeting new people for some adults or children can be an anxious moment. Teaching them to meet others with confidence and open to learning about a new person will have a positive effect on them for life. It is said that when we meet someone that both of us decide if we are equal to, less than or greater than the other person. Can you imagine being judged that quickly? It is important for us to put forth our best in the very beginning.

In addition to teaching a child how to introduce themselves with a good handshake, standing up straight and tall, looking the person in the eye we need to help them be open-minded about the person they are meeting. What a shame it would be if we were to fall into the trap of prejudging a person based on what they look like or what we think they may be able to do for us?  In fact, being unwilling to have a conversation with a person that may see the world from a different viewpoint inhibits our personal growth.

Opening our minds up to meeting new people, talking with them, learning from them and experiencing their friendship makes us a complete person. When we are open to the culture and diverse groups that surround us, we become richer as a person, and we can enjoy life to a greater degree. It creates the possibility of peaceful connections, as all individuals across the globe and in all neighborhoods desire to be treated with dignity and have a connection with others.

Listening to new ideas, ways of looking at issues or a different way of thinking is what open-mindedness is all about. The way we learn and expand our thinking is not by talking, but rather by listening. Being open may get our creative juices flowing, or we may see issues from a different point of view that helps us grow our empathy or compassion. We are open to developing, even if in the end we do not agree with the new idea.

Change in the ways we do or see new things is difficult for most people. We can get comfortable with the way things are or afraid of the unknown. It is the unknown, uncomfortable feeling that creates the opportunity for growth. We have seen this be true in technology, science, society and our personal life.

As difficult as change is for some of us others are very quick to latch on to the newest and ‘greatest’ thing coming around, without giving much thought to the ultimate outcomes or results. The driving force between these two personalities is the need to have either certainty or uncertainty or variety in our lives. The need for certainty says I am not ready to hear or change. The need for variety asks us to find new, exciting things often. Neither is right or wrong, good or bad.

Herein lies the balance we need to strike between not being open to new ideas or going after every new idea.  Both require balancing the need of certainty or uncertainty with open-mindedness tempered with discernment, tolerance, and honesty about who we are and what we value the most. The idea of open-mindedness calls for us to be discerning and genuine to who we are at our core.

Helping our children gain that balanced approach becomes easier when they see us adults listen with an open mind, learning new ways of doing things and trying new activities without determining ahead of time they are good or bad.

Open-mindedness is about listening, learning, and trying new things without having made up our minds that it is good or bad ahead of time. We use our mind to come to a conclusion. I imagine every parent has gone through the experience of a child refusing to eat food they have not tried. They decided ahead of time that they would not like it. Their refusal was based on a fear that it would not taste good.

All of us have been skeptical to try a new activity because we were “sure” we would not be successful, we would get hurt or afraid of being embarrassed.  However, when we practice open-mindedness we open ourselves to new experiences that may prove to be of interest or even enjoyable. Having unbiased new experiences increases our understanding and may broaden our preferences.

In the diverse world we live in, being open-minded to the traditions and cultures of others is an important way of creating peaceful relationships. We may begin by learning about and trying different foods or celebrations of friends and neighbors. The goal is tolerance, acceptance, respect and appreciation for our differences.

While children are naturally more open-minded it is our job as adults to set the example and not allow our biases to thwart our willingness to listen, learn and try new things. As a parent, we must be open-minded to the differences that our children bring to us. They have their natural ways that are unique to them. When we are open to learning about those differences we are providing them the dignity they deserve and we can see areas that they can work on to balance their natural and strong gifts.