The Very Best Thing You Can Be
It’s quite a claim to declare one characteristic the most important, above all others, but hang in here with me and it will become clear.
The very best thing you can be is …… open. Open. What does it even mean to say we should be “open?” If a store is open, it means it’s available to us. We can enter, shop, peruse, and purchase. If a new interstate lane is open, it means we can drive on it; use the additional space to lessen traffic jams. But what does it mean if we are open?
I see it like this. If we’re open it means:
- We know that we don’t know, or at least don’t know everything
- Our hearts and minds are in a state where they can receive guidance
- We leave space for Source (or whatever you call the organizing energy of the Universe) to guide and inspire us to our highest good
- We are not restricted by our own limited thinking
- We disarm the past in determining our future. This is huge!
- We can be taught
- New possibilities are opening up to us
- We’ve released resistance that was based in fear and have stepped into a new realm
This is a pretty exciting list of benefits! If being open is so wonderful, why does it feel so unnatural, so uncomfortable to open our hearts and minds? The answer is simple: We fear being vulnerable.
If we are open, we’re afraid we won’t have a plan; that we’ll look clueless as to what actions we should take; that we’ll be swayed by whatever silly philosophy may be trending; and mostly that we won’t be in control.
But please hear this: control is seductive, but it’s an illusion. The truth is we cannot control other people, events, weather, politics, our parents, our kids, or even sometimes our pets! To sacrifice the illusion of control is really no sacrifice at all. When we are open we still make our own decisions and choices, but it is from a more enlightened space.
Even better, from the state of openness comes other good things: inspiration, connection, abundance, peace, creativity, and more.
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite mantras. It’s from Michael Bernard Beckwith and is best said outside, with arms open wide and gaze cast skyward:
I am open, available and receptive to more good than I can imagine.
