There are still good things in your World, and here’s how to begin discovering them.
Be Open to New Ideas
Emotional shock and its subsequent pain may cause you to close yourself to new ideas. When this occurs, new information that is normally processed is blocked. The mental stimulation needed to remain curious, interested and interesting rapidly decreases.
This lack of curiosity stifles creativity and becomes one of the largest contributors to a life of dullness and non-productivity. Every human being has been given the gift of curiosity. All we have to do is receive it.
Be Open To Loving Yourself and Others
Learning to accept ourselves as we are knowing that we are human and that we make a valiant effort to do the best we can, makes it far easier to accept the imperfections in others. When we can be gentle and uncritical with ourselves we have the understanding to be the same with others.
Be Open To Silence
Another beautiful gift on my list. Some quiet moments create the opportunity for the inner self to be heard. Whether you spend silent time taking a walk, mediating or writing out your thoughts, take time to listen to yourself. Get to know what it is that you want in life to others too. In quiet conversation a friend may have new information, something you just didn’t know before. Remember, when we listen. No one learns much while talking.
Be Open To Honesty
Does that sound too simple? Sometimes we are afraid that if others really know us they won’t like us. The newly widowed person especially express this fear. Some people go through their entire lives trying to be sometime they think others admire. Honesty about ourselves brings a great deal of calm to our lives and encourages the honesty we expect from others. Telling yourself the truth about you can be revealing.
Be Open To Playfulness
We have much to learn from children about how to be joyful. We need to play, to dance, to sing and to laugh in order to keep the merriment of life alive. Too often the seriousness of being a responsible adult has made us forget the pure delight of play. The loss of our loved one has made us doubt that we can ever be joyful again but try finding something playful to do, and see what levity it promotes. Give yourself permission to laugh. What a wonderful gift!
Be Open To Taking Risks
You can go through life saying, No to everything untried or unfamiliar or you can say, Yes to life and continually marvel at all you can accomplish. Learning to do tasks which you believed you could not do is the beginning of a ‘stretch-and-grow’ period which can expand your previous limits and set you on a forward course, with no end in sight.
Be Open To Life’s Meaning
When you have suffered losses of great magnitude, you may believe that life has lost its meaning but no one else brings meaning to your life, only you can do that. The presence of those we love can certainly enhance our enjoyment of life but in the final analysis each of us is responsible and accountable for what we do with our lives.
We all have lessons to learn and lessons to teach. We all have a need for purpose, companionship and participation with our fellow man. So much that is meaningful is all around us. Find out what the most rewarding contribution you can make to others is and set about doing it. If you do this you will have a fail-proof formula for creating meaning in your life.
Don’t wait for someone else to write to you, send off as many letters full of encouraging words that you can write and they will come back to you in multiples. If you will try to Be Open in just these few ways you will be directly in line for recognizing more of life’s gifts.
When you make your own list be sure to include happiness. It’s something we all want. Let’s remember too, that happiness is a moment-by-moment thing. It’s not a place to be or a thing to have. Also, it’s not to be found in another person. Yes another person may add to our happiness because of the way we feel when they’re around, but that feeling happens inside of us and can be obtained from many sources. The sources of our happiness may change for happiness is not static, it’s dynamic. Just like you!
From “AfterLoss”
by Margie Kennedy-Reeves
To laugh
Is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep
Is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out for another
Is to risk involvement.
To expose feeling s
Is to risk exposing our true self.
To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd
Is to risk loss.
To love
Is to risk being in loved in return.
To live
Is to risk dying.
To hope
Is to risk despair.
To try at all
Is to risk failure.
But to risk we must
Because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.