From a Narrow Mind to an Open Mind

Although I didn’t think about it at the time, I was a very narrow minded person. I used to think that I knew exactly what I wanted and what was right and wrong. My opinion on everything was very stubbornly projected into the ears of my peers, and I stood quite proud of the fact that I had no doubt in my thoughts and actions.

For instance, I used to believe in absolute words like “never” and “always”.

“I will never become that person” was probably one of my favourite lines.

But you know what?

Life tapped on me the shoulder with her magic wand and somehow made me question all the decisions and actions that I’ve ever made.

“Did I really want to become a doctor? Because a nurse practitioner sounded just as amazing.”

“I used to love this brand of ramen noodles, and now I don’t like them anymore. Why is that?” (And being the science student that I am, I tried to come up with hypotheses about why my taste buds were rejecting the deliciously unhealthy goodness.)

I think the reason why I didn’t want to open myself up to new ideas was because I didn’t want to feel doubt. I didn’t want to feel like I didn’t have everything all together.

But it took everything falling apart for me to see who I really was, where my passion laid, and what I was truly interested in.

Now that I’ve answered some of my questions and have cultivated some form of an identity for myself, I think that it’s healthy to make room for doubt.

Because if we stop questioning things, we’ll never search for an answer and we’ll end up settling for the most socially accepted response. We’ll settle for the most agreeable answer, thinking that it’s the right one for us, when in fact, we could have rejected a pivotal piece of information that contributes to our beings as people.

Imagine if you’ve never tried chocolate. Missing out right?

So I encourage everyone who reads this article to challenge himself or herself by trying something new. Open your mind to a new experience or way of thinking and you just might find yourself along the way.