In this modern world we are living in an information age. It is very easy to become overwhelmed by the constant influx of scientific studies, breaking news, and even spiritual revelations that fill our bookshelves, radio waves, Internet pages, billboards and in-boxes.
No sooner have we made a decision on what to eat or how to think about the universe than a new report, video or book comes out that can confound our well-researched opinion.
After a while, we may very well be tempted to dismiss or ignore new information in the interest of stabilising our point of view or preventing causing overload in our brains, and this is understandable.
Rather than closing down and ignoring what could be vital information, we might try instead to remain open by allowing our intuition to guide us. Our intuition rarely lets us down and if we listen to it we may well be able to sort the fact from the fiction and make a much more considered decision about what we want to do, or indeed what we don’t want to do. For example, there is a plethora of contradictory studies concerning foods that are allegedly good for you and foods that are allegedly bad for you. At a certain point, though, we can feel for ourselves whether, for instance, coffee or tomatoes are good for us or not.
The answer is, of course, different for each individual, and this is something that a scientific study can’t quite account for. All we can do is take in the information and process it through our own systems of understanding. If we know that a certain food does not agree with us, we usually tend to avoid it. I am allergic to eggs and egg products so I avoid cakes, biscuits, ice cream, pate etc., that contains eggs. That doesn’t mean that eggs are not good for other people, it just means they are not good for me.
In the end, only we can decide what information, ideas, and concepts we will integrate. Remaining open give us the option to change and shift by checking in with ourselves as we learn new information. It keeps us flexible and alert, and while it can feel a bit like being thrown off balance all the time, this openness is essential to the process of growth and expansion. I think the key is realising that we are not going to finally get to some stable place of having it all figured out. After all, we are always learning. Throughout our lives we will go through the processes of opening to new information, integrating it, and stabilising our worldview. As soon as we have reached some kind of stability, it will be time to open again to new information, which is inherently destabilising.
Maybe, if we see ourselves as surfers riding the incoming waves of information and inspiration, always open and willing to attune ourselves to the next shift, we will see how lucky we are to have this opportunity to play on the waves and, most of all, to enjoy the ride whilst we are learning.