Every moment in life presents us with a choice of perspective. We can meet what is happening with a closed heart, or we can meet it with an open heart.
When the heart is closed, we tend to experience life through pain and fear. We become focused on everything that could go wrong, everything we cannot do, every limitation, and every reason why we shouldn’t move in a particular direction. We protect ourselves by withdrawing, resisting, controlling, and anticipating danger. The world becomes smaller because our fear determines what we are willing to see.
But when the heart is open, life begins to look completely different.
We see opportunities. We see vibrancy. We see creativity, connection and possibility. We become more receptive to what life is presenting to us. We begin to see the interconnection between people, experiences and circumstances. We become capable of seeing love where previously we only saw threat.
An open heart does not mean being naïve. It does not mean ignoring pain, accepting everything, or allowing people to hurt us. It means that fear no longer has complete authority over how we experience reality.
A closed heart asks, “How do I protect myself from this?”
An open heart asks, “What is possible here?”
A closed heart sees limitations.
An open heart sees possibilities.
A closed heart sees separation.
An open heart sees connection.
A closed heart looks for reasons not to move forward.
An open heart becomes curious about where life might be leading.
And this is where we begin to understand that perspective is not simply about positive thinking. It is about the state from which we encounter life.
Two people can stand in exactly the same circumstances and have completely different experiences because they are looking through completely different hearts.
Perhaps one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves when life presents us with something unexpected is:
“Am I looking at this through a heart that is protecting itself from the past, or through a heart that is open to what is possible in the present?”
Because when the heart opens, life doesn’t necessarily change.
But what we are able to see in life changes—and sometimes, that changes everything.
