Healing States: Receptivity (Healthy Living DIY)

Next on our tour of healing states is the state of receptivity. We've spoken about this before, yet I look around and see the same old situations over and over. So let's touch on it once again.

It's been said that the most dangerous words in the English language are "I already know that." It's also been said that we don't get ourselves in trouble so much from what we don't know, but from what we don't know we don't know.

Great wisdom in those words!

If you've read my previous post on "What to do when you mess up," you'll know that I recently over-reacted to someone else's careless mistake. At the root of the careless mistake was a lack of receptivity. The person acted as though something was true, when in fact they were way off the mark.

The catch? Despite having absolutely no experience in the life domain in question, the person assumed they knew exactly what needed to be done. Instead of stopping to ask a question or seek guidance, they barged ahead -- and straight into trouble.

I'm sure I've done the same thing at some point. And so, probably, have you. We're human.

Yet ...

Stop for a moment and consider all the things you don't know. If you're like me, it's an extremely long list. Skills I don't have, languages I don't speak, knowledge bases I'm clueless about, tools I don't know how to use, and so on. In fact, the more I learn the more I find I don't know.

It's ok with me that I don't know everything. But that's not universally true. There are lots of people around who mistakenly believe that they're somehow "supposed" to know pretty much everything, despite never having been taught or even exposed to the information they need. (Silly, huh?)

People in this frame of mind typically barge ahead and do whatever seems best to them at the time. Unfortunately, since they don't have the background necessary to make well-informed choices, they make lots of mistakes.

Let's look back for a moment at that graphic display of a health decay cycle. Notice the phrase "Fallacies, Errors, and Mistakes?" They occur at the leading edge of the decay cycle that predisposes ill health. And they come, in part, from a lack of receptivity to new ideas and information.

This isn't about being good or bad. It isn't about right and wrong. It's simple cause and effect. A person who resists information and ideas from anywhere outside his or her own head is bound to make mistakes, because -- obviously -- none of us knows everything.

If you flip ahead to the healing cycle graphic, you'll notice that receptivity is right there -- right in the quality of attention. Receptivity is part of attention, because until a person is open to new ideas, they simply can't attend to them.

Quick point. This doesn't mean you necessarily have to spend all your free time listening to everybody and his mother who wants your attention or your time. There's an art to selecting where to direct your attention ... and most of us spend a lifetime working this part out!

Elizabeth Eckert can help you explore how simple everyday choices create health — or undermine even the best of intentions. With a background that ranges from energy medicine to structural bodywork to developmental psychology, this "Stick-To-It Coach" has the experience to support you in creating the healthiest possible expression of — you!

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