There's a special event in my life, one that some peers may enjoy, however some will not be invited due to their close minded commentary, attitudes, and actions. They'll miss out on an event that would be life enriching, fun, and positive.
I've been that closed minded individual before. I remember back when those close to me had multiple, awesome opportunities that I could have been apart of, but unwillingness to be open to the experiences obstructed my opportunities in that regard. Looking back now, I know that was a bad way to deal with the awesome opportunities and changes my friends and family members were experiencing.
I often tell my students at school and my own children, when you play the compare game, no one wins. I came to that conclusion as I thought about moments in my life when I was closed minded and regretted that I didn't have a more open attitude towards others' strengths, experiences, and opportunities. The truth of the matter is that none of us can be all things, we're all a discrete package of strengths and challenges, and the best way to broaden ourselves, our opportunities, and our experiences in life is to be open to the life call and experiences of others.
This Saturday night I watched an amazing Netflix show about the life of Armistead Maupin. I found his life journey fascinating, and I was inspired by his humane message about accepting and supporting people as they are. As I watched, I thought about his perspective of life as well as the perspectives of his friends and family members. It was a great opportunity to experience life through a lens both different and similar to my own. Maupin's lens differed with mine by age, gender, geography, and history, yet similar to mine and probably similar to most person's lenses, he told the story of what it was like to forge his journey ahead to be who he was and accept his interests, both mainstream and unique.
As we forge our journeys ahead, we are always dealing with the question of who we are and where we should be headed. Again and again we face turns in the road that challenge our choices, and we are open to those challenges, we generally gain greater insights on who we are and where we are meant to travel at that time.
So as I write today, I am encouraging myself to be open minded to the people, places, ideas, and experiences of the people around me. That's a good way to broaden my life, a life limited by who I am. Just think of the experiences I can have on my own and through the life choices of so many around me. It's incredible. With that, I plan to be more open minded in the days ahead, a good direction to go.
