By John Thurman
I recently had the opportunity to travel to Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo for a work-related assignment. Before going, I had heard stories of the famous Kinshasa Traffic. I will just put it this way; I was grateful that we had experienced drivers. And while I nearly had a coronary every time we ventured out, I was amazed at how seasoned drivers adapt.
There is a principle at play here.
In my work as a counselor, I have come to believe, and the research bears this out. There are two fundamental mindsets a person can have in life.
The first is a “closed mindset.” This type of person feels that they are locked into their “lot in life.” The can easily hold on to lies that they are too bad, too poor, too abused, or not good enough to amount to anything. They tend to live rigid lives, with little hope. When looking at their current situation they feel like:
•It is personal – it is all my fault
•It is permanent – things cannot be changed
•It is pervasive – it will impact everything I do.
The second is a person with an “open mindset.” They key trait about an “open-minded” person” is that they are adaptable and flexible. They tend to be the optimist in the world; one phrase sums them up pretty simply.
“With God all things are possible.”
You and I get to choose which mindset we want to have.
Just like to professional drivers that drove our team around Kinshasa, DRC, we can learn to be adaptable or live in fear and go nowhere.