Skip to main content

Flexible Thinking

The ability to be open minded and thinking flexibly leads us to be more accepting and understanding, and to feel less frustrated and distressed.

 

"Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open." 
Thomas Dewar

 

Flexible Thinking This page as PDF



The Mighty Oak  
Stuck, rigid, closed, vulnerable.

The oak tree is mightier than the palm tree. It is big, strong, stiff and unyielding. It is inflexible, and is much more vulnerable to being broken and blown down as a result of strong winds.




The Swaying Palm  
Open, flexible, tolerant, adaptable.

The palm tree is smaller and flexible. It bends with the fierce wind in a storm, before standing again and continuing to live after the storm has passed.

 



The hard and the rigid will break.  The soft and the flexible will remain.
Tao Te Ching

 

So it is with our minds. A fixed and rigid mind means being very closed and is much less healthy than a mind that is open, tolerant and flexible.  An open and flexible mind allows growth, learning and progress.

Just as the outside weather doesn't affect who we are, our core beliefs and life values, so our thoughts are just the weather of our minds. 

It feels like we're in a hurricane, but eventually, the hurricane will run out of energy.

We might adapt and do things differently in spite of the weather.   We have calm and sunny days, and there are stormy days, but we still have choices about how we react to that weather and what we do.

We can learn to notice when we are being a rigid oak, and become more flexible and open by allowing those winds of thoughts, images, words and feelings to blow on through and let them pass.


"Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open." 
Thomas Dewar



Encourage flexibility: see the bigger picture

Flexible ThinkingThis page as PDF

Useful Links

Different Perspectives

The Helicopter View

Fact or Opinion

THINK !

Thought Challenging

The Court Case

The Super-Scanner

Defusion

Metaphors

Mindfulness

NOW



This mp3 uses the oak and palm tree metaphor.

THE WORRY TREE mp3
(for dealing with worry)

Female voice, with music.

 28 mins 502.50  Add to Cart

 

Useful links

Different Perspectives

The Helicopter View

Fact or Opinion

THINK !

Thought Challenging

The Court Case

The Super-Scanner

Defusion

Metaphors

Mindfulness

NOW



This mp3 uses the oak and palm tree metaphor.

THE WORRY TREE mp3
(for dealing with worry)

Female voice, with music.

 28 mins 502.50  Add to Cart

This website uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience. Privacy statement.

Back to top