KEEPING AN OPEN MIND
I am on an airplane from Atlanta (via Sarasota, FL,which is home) to San Diego, CA. The bad news is that the whole trip will take 12 hours door to door. The good news is that I got upgraded to first class. One of the “deals” I make with myself is that on the way to a presentation, I must do business reading, but on the way home, I can do anything I choose (that is possible on an airplane, of course! 😉
On this flight I have been catching up on my professional reading and have finished three issues of “Speaker” magazine, a publication of the National Speakers Association. This year the theme is “Keep It Real,” and I am deeply impressed with the quality of the articles and the practicality and cutting edge, “no BS” nature of the writing.
One of the quotations that especially struck me was from Aristotle: “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” What an interesting way to express the idea of keeping an open mind!
How often do we perceive ideas through the filter of what we deem “acceptable” and summarily discard them rather than “entertaining” them to see what might be of value? A dear friend of mine believes strongly that aliens are watching what is going on in our world and are waiting to come to earth to help us. I must admit that at first I thought he was a bit “wacky”..and yet, because I care about him, I have worked to stay open- minded enough to read the channeled messages he forwards to me from an anonymous source, and interestingly, I have learned from them.
Although I still do not believe there are aliens watching us, I certainly am willing to admit the possibility of that thought-something that years ago I would have dismissed as “science fiction.” Thinking about Aristotle’s quotation, it makes me wonder if the more sheltered and insulated (Aristotle’s idea of uneducated?) we are, the less we are willing to allow ourselves to think about the POSSIBILITY that our deeply held beliefs may not be true after all.
I think the explosion of communication and the phenomenon of the internet have opened new worlds of thought to all of us, and the end result is that we have many more choices in terms of our foundational beliefs. Learning about other cultures and entertaining new ideas broadens us if we allow ourselves to listen, not necessarily changing our beliefs, but in fact, perhaps making them even stronger through considering other alternatives.
On the other hand, we may decide that we DO accept the new thought, and that is the ultimate aim of all education – to give us enough information to make wise choices. I pray that as I continue to learn and grow, I may be willing to listen to new thoughts and ideas without immediately judging them as “wrong,” whether it be in my business or my personal life. Even though Aristotle lived hundreds of years ago, his wisdom is still applicable today!
To learn more about Barbara’s work and life, go to www.barbaraglanz.com.
