As I think about openness it brings me back to a time in my early childhood. I was about four years old and the house we lived in had a hallway in the middle of it. My dad would take my siblings and I inside it and shut all the doors so we could play blind man’s bluff. With all the doors closed it was pitch dark and quite scary for a little kid. I wanted out, and found myself standing on the other side of the door listening to them laughing and having fun. I wanted back in again, but I wanted to keep a door open. Of course that took away from the fun of darkness for everyone else and soon they didn’t want to play anymore.
The value of openness for me is the way it brings light into my life.
Openness gives us an opportunity to find a way to work things out. My dad tried to find a compromising way to bring us all together by leaving one door open, but my siblings were not open to the compromise.
Whether we are a child or an adult we can only understand what we are mentally mature enough to comprehind. The difference between a child and an adult though is that it’s easier for an adult to take hold of the door knob, turn it, and pull the door open to what life has to show them. Openness in turn becomes a powerful value that opens other doors for us to invite opportunites of compromise. As I often say it’s not my way or your way that is right. It’s about opening a door one at a time, and letting the light shine through until our eyes begin ajust to a clearer view of life.
Reflection: I write for you as much as I do for the lesson it has to teach me. This is one of those times when I am grateful that being open to Gods spirit, the message comes shining through.
Connie's Wisdom 