Photo by Holly Mandarich on Unsplash
People aren’t massive fans of uncertainty. They would rather bask in mundanity and the comfort a solid routine provides than increase their openness to experience. However, is this a thing to be proud of?
Uncertainty is scary.
Facing an entirely novel unfamiliar road can give one the creeps, and meeting new people isn’t always an exciting image to some people. Everyone is an overthinker regarding circumstances they’re putting themselves into. The brain constantly attempts to predict what happens next to protect people. This subconscious future-thinking is a way to prepare one’s mind and body for any situation to arise.
When people put themselves in uncertain or random situations, this planning becomes unnecessarily more complex and taxing for the mind. Hence, people are commonly poor in their openness to experience. Most would rather pass roads they know like the back of their hands and interact with people they’re most familiar with than try experimenting with their novel counterparts.
However, while this seems the safest, most common option, this doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the wiser and better course of action.
What Is Openness to Experience?
In The Mildenhall Legacy, a truck driver story book by Albert Sipes, readers follow Eve Chambers’ rags-to-riches story. It’s a transformation that’s been told countless times. Yet Albert Sipes manages to give it a fresh twist, given the conditions in his story.
While traveling to complete her education, Eve finds herself in a tough situation when she runs out of money. As a solution, she becomes a truck driver, a job most women would not have chosen to earn a living. However, she braves against this stereotype, putting herself in an unfamiliar and, perhaps, absolutely flustering situation. What’s initially a frightening decision turns in her favor when she discovers she’s heir to the Mildenhall oil fortune, beginning her new, affluent life.
Eve Chambers’ story is a perfect example of openness to experience. And if anything, her story also teaches readers the benefits of welcoming new opportunities despite them being scary.
Openness to experience is measured by how receptive an individual is to foreign experiences and ideas. Eve practices it in her willingness to be a truck driver and how receptive she is to meet new people throughout this journey. She doesn’t hesitate to embark on this journey, which gets rewarded tenfold as she ends up bagging a significant amount of wealth. She never would’ve known she owned such an inheritance if not for her openness to experience.
What Are the Benefits of Open Engagement?
Obviously, not everyone will follow Eva Chambers’ journey. Openness to experience isn’t a surefire way to receive wealth like The Mildenhall Legacy’s protagonist. However, when people intentionally cultivate a more open and receptive mindset, it’s no question they’ll encounter more opportunities increasing their chances of reaping more rewards.
When people learn not to say no to what scares them, they’re putting themselves in the perfect conditions for growth. Nobody learns new skills by staying in the same situation and being exposed to the exact scenarios. It makes them masters of that situation but naïve and clueless to others. This doesn’t only obstruct one’s growth and learning, but it also is a surefire way of making life predictive and boring. Openness to experience enhances one’s life by increasing curiosity and speeding up their development.
By constantly exposing themselves to novel experiences, people sharpen their problem-solving skills. It cultivates a more innovative thinking – the ability to think outside the box when looking at some issues. This innovation isn’t limited to problem-solving but applies to one’s imagination and appreciation for aesthetics. People who are more welcoming to engagement are more driven to try unique experiences, which can lead to a better mindset and lifestyle.
All-in-all, openness to experience leads to nowhere else but success.
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