Are you willing to change your mind?

Show Notes — Are You Willing to Change Your Mind?

In this episode of The Kingdom Corner Reading Room, Matt concludes Chapter 8 of Dr. Henry Cloud’s Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality by exploring an essential quality of mature character: the willingness to see reality clearly enough to change when change is needed.

Cloud begins with the idea of “splitting”—seeing ourselves, other people, or situations as all good or all bad. Mature people learn to live with complexity. Someone can disappoint us without becoming a terrible person. A failure doesn't make everything a failure. Wisdom learns to see the whole picture.

From there, we explore two important concepts: assimilation and accommodation.

Assimilation means allowing new information to enter our thinking. Accommodation goes further—we make room for that information and allow it to enlarge or change our understanding of reality.

But that's not always easy.

Pride, fear, insecurity, bias, past experiences, and even the simple effort required to learn something new can cause us to resist information that challenges the way we've always seen things.

Being open to change doesn't mean becoming willy-nilly, chasing every new idea that comes along. Mature character has convictions while remaining teachable. Sometimes we examine new information and retain our existing beliefs. Other times reality requires us to say those wonderfully freeing words:

“Oh…now I see.”

In this episode, we'll consider how this applies to leadership, relationships, parenting, business, technology, faith, and our own personal growth.

Questions to consider:

• What belief, habit, method, or way of seeing life once served me well but may now need to be enlarged or changed?
• Am I resisting change because I genuinely believe the old way is better—or because learning something new requires effort?
• Can I encounter someone whose beliefs, background, or experiences are different from mine and remain secure enough to ask, “What might this person have to teach me?”
• Am I willing to admit that I don't see myself completely?
• Do I have trusted people in my life who have permission to help me see what I cannot see for myself?

Hold truth firmly. Hold your understanding humbly. And remain willing to say, “Oh…now I see.”

Join us as we finish this powerful section on what it means to become an integrated person capable of meeting the demands of reality.