The connection between openness and energy

A dear friend came to visit yesterday, bringing along two teens from Tennessee to broaden their horizons.  A casual decision to take a mid-afternoon break for an old fashioned phosphate in a local diner turned out to be the highlight of their trip: they'd never seen a jukebox before, let alone one with individual table stations like this one. So we casually dropped in a quarter, selected a tune, wandered over to the jukebox to watch it drop a 45 into place, and then sang along (and howled) to the immutable lyrics of "Hey there, Little Red Riding Hood." (Yes, I'm showing my age!)

There's so much more to the world than any of us tend to encounter, caught as we are in our daily routines. So much more to see, to hear, to taste and feel than any of us can capture in a lifetime. So we're already limited by the constrictions of time and space; why, then, would we further close ourselves off by locking up our hearts as well? There are opportunities all the time to step out of our comfort zones, but so often we choose to close ourselves off from experience -- and just so you know, I am a key offender in this area.

Michael Singer, in Untethered Soul, suggests that every time we protect ourselves, shut ourselves off from life, we lose an opportunity to experience what he believes to be an infinite supply of inner energy. "Pay attention," he says, "when you feel love and enthusiasm. Then ask yourself why you can't feel this all the time. Why does it have to go away? The answer is obvious: it only goes away if you choose to close. By closing, you are actually making the choice not to feel openness and love.

You throw love away all the time. You feel love until somebody says something you don't like, and then you give up the love. You feel enthused about your job until someone criticizes something, and then you want to quit. It's your choice. You can either close because you don't like what happened, or you can keep feeling love and enthusiasm by not closing. As long as you are defining what you like and what you don't like you will open and close. You are actually defining your limits, allowing your mind to create triggers that open and close you. Let go of that. Dare to be different. Enjoy all of life. The more you stay open, the more the energy flow can build."

Even reading this I can feel all sorts of arguments starting to surface. "But what about...?" and "Yes, but..." And then I picture the Dalai Lama: that amazing smile, and that amazing energy. Hmm. Maybe there's something to this...