One of my favorite writers has a Blog called “Dairy of an Unborn Writer.” (See link to the left, under my blogroll.)  Today he offers a short poem which asks to “live with a more open heart.” This struck me as the most important thing, maybe the only thing there is to do.  He moans his lack, but the realization of this piece  proves  he is more than he thinks. To simply keep opening your heart to love more and accept more is a wise and smooth path.

Cheryl Richardson wrote this week about the Thought Meter. Like the speed meter which reads the speed we’re driving, we need to pay attention to our thoughts. This is a lovely image to hold onto and surely, as she says, “awareness raises consciousness.”

Cheryl offers a few ways to remember to stop and read your thoughts, but I like the idea of then asking the question: Does this thought open my heart or close it?  If we keep thinking in terms of opening, we’re on the right path.  Another convenient visual.

Opening does not mean being vulnerable.  How can you be less vulnerable if you’re thinking angry or hateful thoughts?  How does that keep you better protected?  In fact, when your heart is open you see more of the possibilities.  Your vision and stance is wider and your responses can be more calm and sure.

Paulette Terrels’ Tuesday Morning Whispering said this: “Looking deeply invites us to put aside our preconceptions, our current labels and allow for freshness.  May we be open to new possibilities today.”  What a wonderful place to be! Listening to your thoughts and choosing to stay open brings all that to you.

Opening your heart keeps you in a state of forgiveness.  In trying to forgive someone and opening to that, I realized, I need to include myself in that forgiveness.  Even if I can’t find an exact action to blame on myself, I can certainly point the finger at myself for not seeing it coming or allowing it to come to this point. 

Clearly, this blaming does me no good.  I may not ever get to forgiving the other if I can’t forgive myself. When I can open my heart enough to forgive myself, then I’ll see my way to fully forgiving the other person.

The clarity comes when I choose how I want to see this.  I can try to figure out what each of us did wrong or I can throw a blanket of forgiveness over the whole mess and say, this is a new beginning for me.  I’ve dodged a bullet, as the situation has righted itself. I open my heart to accept all the possibilities that this new way can bring to me and the other person.  That feels good and forward-moving!  All from opening.

May we all choose, like the Unborn Writer, “to live with a more open heart.”