How to Exercise an Open Mind

I am sure that each of us has come across the word “open mind” in any conversation before. And I am also sure that each of us has been told by someone else, maybe by our parents, friends, spouses, bosses, etc., to be an open mind person. Or, perhaps it is you who always tell someone else to be open minded.

 Talking about an open mind is easy. Telling someone to be open minded is even easier. But do we really know, how to do it? I mean, how to be open minded? Have you ever told someone how to be open minded?

I have this experience, when I was having an argument with someone, until at a point that I started to literally yell at her with something like, “just for once, could you be open minded, for God sake?” Then she immediately shouted me back, “So you think I’m not an open mind? Then tell me, how to be open minded anyway?”

What she said really startled me, and it kept on lingering in my head, “how to be open minded”

This made me to do a little research. I began to investigate through any sources, books, even the internet. Out of many references I found, it came out into one conclusion. There is no other way of doing it, than to exercise the mind and promote new ways of thinking about the world around us. The key ingredients are to be open to new experiences, and changes in previous ways of thinking about these experiences.

There are endless numbers of activities as an exercise to be an open mind. And I am going to share you some of them of which I myself have tried to do and got new perspectives out of them.

The first thing I believe we need to do is to exercise our sensory systems. Stimulate your ears differently. Try different music you haven’t tried before. Learn to appreciate it: dangdut, keroncong, gambang kromong, campursari, classical, new age, rap, country, blues. You don’t have to like it, but if you keep an open mind, you can still find it interesting. Listen to a radio station you typically don’t listen to. Music is always interesting.

Then, stimulate your eyes in new ways. Enjoy seeing different things. Views, landscapes, buildings, forests. Go to an art gallery. Even if you think it’s bad art, it can still be stimulating and thought provoking.

You can even stimulate your tongue with different types of foods. Try foods you have never tried, as long as it is halal. Why not? Have you tried sushi? Have you tried Vietnamese? Sundanese? How about vegetarian food? I actually found sushi tastes sensasional.

After you exercise your sensory systems, go on with learning something new and earning a new skill. Basket ball, golf, skydiving, even bungee jumping..Web design, painting, internet, taichi, yoga…Communication, public speaking..you name it.

Learn any language that you don’t know. I am quite fortunate that I was grown up in a multilingual environment. My father speaks English, Arabic, and French. My mother is fluent with English and Japanese. My uncle, who lived with our family when I was a child, speaks English, Arabic, and German. So I learnt a lot from them. By learning other language, you can begin to see the way the people using the language think. It will surely bring you into a new perspective.

Improve your creativity. Write a poem, short article, novel…Work on a cross words and its variations. Try playing scrabbles. It is fun, you know.

Join uncommon and different clubs. Photography, painting, Toastmasters, Theatre, etc. Learn something from there.

Being open minded means having or showing receptiveness to new and different ideas or the opinions of others. You can do this by starting to learn about different people and lifestyles. Remember, just learn it. You don’t have to be part of it, especially if it is not suitable with your belief system. By learning, you will widen your perspective. You will be more open minded.

Try to see another person’s perspective. What is important to that person? So observe them. Put yourself in their shoes.

Have a short conversation with person seated next to you. Just a few minutes at first. Well, not now. Find out what he or she likes and what he or she does not like. Listen to them. Practice this several times until the length of the conversation gradually begins to increase.

Every decision you make in life is based on your belief system. To open your mind, start with your own fundamental beliefs. Ask yourself why you believe it. Challenge yourself.

Ask some really good friends what they believe and how they get their beliefs. Try to understand them.

Well, You can add the list I just mentioned. The basic principle of this whole exercises is to try and be open, discover new things, learn new skills, and discover many weird and wonderful facts, pastimes, skills, and so on. Feel free to be creative, impulsive and open. So try even things which I haven’t mentioned. Good luck..!