Open-mindedness
"Are you open-minded?"
Words that are usually associated with networking. It is because networking usually needs an open-minded person who is willing to invest not just money but his or her time and dedication as well.
Though some of us may say or claim that we are open-minded, sometimes it is still a challenge to deal with others. But ask yourself 'is the problem really 'them' who are fanatic to their own belief and narrow-minded?
The truth is, you may have a bigoted and unreasonable mind more than what you think of yourself. Do you sometimes say this: "Religion and politics are the two topics I'll never talk to others!"? Or do you scoff at the sight of a certain food you normally don't eat? Perhaps you will even say: "NEVER!" in all capitals to emphasize that you don't like it. What do you think about a certain treatment? Have you ever said: "What? An acupuncture? With a quack doctor? No way!" Or have you ever been biased and thought that all people who have a tattoo is a criminal? Or all those children asking for alms on the street are bad and are trained and being controlled by criminals? Then it's probably time to think about it - if you are being too closed-minded and biased more than what you think of.
What It Means to be Open Minded
A person who is open-minded is someone whose beliefs are not tied to discrimination and prejudice. A dictionary defined it this way:
“A judgment or opinion, whether agreeable or not, made in advance or without due process; a mental decision based on other grounds and not on justice or fairness; especially, a non-parenting or conflicting opinion with prejudice."
Judgment and decision-making are two of the important aspect of our life. But a decision made without any thorough review and consideration and judgment made based on assumptions is a sign of being close-minded and biased.
When you are open-minded, you are open to hear out even the suggestions of someone younger than you.
On the other hand, open-mindedness means you are willing to accept new information and ideas. It is the willingness to review and thoroughly think and ponder on the information without a discrimination. If we accept what is right and refuse what is wrong, we will come up with the truth that has a strong basis and at the same time, it still makes us open-minded and willing to accept changes if the situation makes us to do so. Assuming that you know everything will hinder you to know more useful information.
Why Some Are Close-Minded
Close-mindedness is a sign of lack of information and knowledge. Someone probably lacks enough knowledge about something or probably, the information he has on hand is wrong, or maybe it is still an old knowledge that needs to be updated.
Close-mindedness is manifested by lack of interest in the topic or refusing to further study something. The truth is, it also shows that you are not sure of your belief, or you have doubts about your belief. Say for example, there are some people who can't defend their religious belief so as a result what they do is attack other religions and worse, say nasty things about them, instead of defending his beliefs in a reasonable way. This shows prejudice and close-mindedness. Someone may also become close-minded because he does not want to lose some advantages that is the result of holding on to his belief.
Are you open-minded enough to consider these thoughts and think about yourself? Perhaps you are not like what is described here. Or maybe you are, will you be willing to change some of your belief? What are the benefits of being open-minded? Let's take a look in this article.
Benefits of Being Open Minded
It can help us to widen out. As a child, can you still remember the time when you are craving for knowledge? And because your mind is like a tabula rasa, you are always open to something new and whenever there is an opportunity to learn, you are always willing to grab it and as a result, you grew up as a knowledgeable person. As a child you do not know what prejudice and discrimination is. But were you able to keep your open-mindedness until now? Or are you like a foreigner who decided to travel and went to a far away and foreign land but tries to look for the native foods he's become used to eating in his own home? Maybe the reason why you don't eat the foods in that foreign land is because you find it weird or even unsanitary. And maybe you even express your disgust for the food in front of those people which is so impolite. Well, it is indeed vital to be careful with what you drink and eat when travelling, some even decides to just drink a bottled water, juice or soda paired with biscuits. But if you don't try something just because of your prejudice, you can miss a whole new experience and the chance to get to know and maybe become friends with those people. Why would you deprive yourself of getting acquainted with other nationality and culture just because it is different from what you are used to? When you try to eliminate discrimination and open your mind to knowing others and knowing more about their culture you will get a whole new experience which can even lead to happiness.
Being open-minded can help person to become healthier. All of us may have experienced being sick. And to find a cure for our sickness, even if it's just a simple fever or flu, there may be some medication or treatment that we may insist on using. But being open-minded will help us to take the suggestions of others in a negative way. Maybe someone will suggest using the natural way of treatment such us using herbals but since you are not used to using herbal medicines, you refuse to listen saying only quack doctors uses that or vice versa, we insist that it is better to use herbal medicines than seek for professional advice from a doctor. Keep in mind that medical treatment varies, a treatment that works perfectly on us may not work that way to others.
Open-mindedness will help us to be happy while prejudice and hatred is rooted in close-mindedness. A happy heart is a healthy heart and a healthy heart will lead to a longer life.
Being open-minded helps to improve our way of thinking. According to studies, our brain has the capacity to process and remember information that is ten thousand times more than the information stored in the Encyclopædia Britannica! So why would you stop your brain from processing such massive information because you are not open-minded?
Being close-minded will hinder you to improve your thinking capacity because it prevents you from correcting your wrong way of thinking and belief. But being open-minded on the other hand will help you to have a matured thinking ability.
It can help solve problems. In order for us to solve our problems, we need to accept advices and counsel. Open-mindedness will help us accept the advice of others even though it may seem to be a not-so-wise advice. But if you are open-minded, you'll carefully ponder and think of the advices, and it may even help to solve your problems.
Sometimes it is not that easy to change a certain belief but if we try to be more open-minded, we may be able to the benefits of being open-minded, so, are you open-minded?
Thanks for the brilliant explanations about open-mindedness, for me, I belong to this group of people. Open-minded in everything except networking without knowing other people's products first.