When I hear the word “horizon” I can’t help thinking in an orange sunset, by the sea. That far away line telling us our world is finite. But as you know, the horizon can never be reached, one step closer you take, one step further you are. Here is a paradox, a limit that can’t be reached.
Now, when we talk about Horizons, we are not referring to that “physical limit” but to the limit of our ideas, knowledge, and experience – the paradox again. The word Horizons includes all the aspects related to the development of a person as a rational being. Has somebody set a limit for your intellectual growth? Is there someone telling you “this is as far as you can go”? Well, the answer is YES. Yourself. You are the one that decides what, when and how. Everyday, there’s a whole range of new experiences to be lived, of ideas to be discovered, of knowledge to be gained. What you get from this world, what you are ready to take in and make yours is entirely up to you.
So, I’m sure you have heard the expression “expand you horizons” many times before. And one question comes to my mind, How? How do we expand our horizons? Easier said than done? Not really. Expanding our horizons is a simple thing to do.
Acquiring new knowledge allows us to form opinions, to give sound arguments, and to reconsider what we’ve taken for granted. What better way to gain knowledge than reading? Reading is way of broadening our horizons. The first thing that comes to my mind is books, but we are growing reluctant to books. Thanks God we live in the XXI c. Technology has made access to knowledge a whole lot easier for us. Anything, from recipes to quantum theory, can be found online these days. It’s just one click away. Search engines save time and effort when looking for that new thing that caught our eye or ear. What’s great of this, is the amount of information they offer, we have the chance to read about that topic from various sources, in only one afternoon. Sure we need time, but we can make ourselves some time to read every now and then.
Life is made up of experiences. And these experiences, whether good or bad, are great opportunities to grow. It’s not just a matter of accumulating anecdotes; if we are to grow from what happens to us, we should always look back and reflect on our successes and failures. Sometimes, we feel like nothing ever happens to us, that our life is monotonous and boring. If this is the case, then we should break the routine. Opening to life is also a great way of expanding our horizons. Life is what we make of it, the decisions we take. Thinking out the box and breaking behaviour patterns might prove effective when trying to change our daily life. Exposing ourselves to the unknown, getting out of our comfort zone is the only way of proving how capable and strong we are. Maybe a good starting point is simply doing all those things we are always too busy to do or too scared to do. Make the most of every situation and take chances!
Relating to people is another way in which we can increase our knowledge and develop new ideas, especially if these people are different from us. Reality is subjective and each person perceives it in a different way. Everything is relative they say – and it is. What I accept as a clear truth, may not be so clear for someone else. When our values and beliefs are questioned, and confronted to the values and beliefs of somebody else, we are in the need to look for the perfect argument that would prove us right. Sometimes, we find it easily, sometimes, we struggle. In both cases, we are given the chance to find out what we really think of any given topic, which help us to figure out who we are.
It may also be the case that we start seeing things in a new light because of the people we relate with. What seemed absolutely crazy and nonsensical turns to something completely obvious and rational. Other people influence on what we believe, whether by questioning our opinion or by helping us change our point of view. It takes a lot of humility to acknowledge somebody else’s opinion as valid, and a lot of courage to stand for what we believe in. I think that we should strike a balance here, keeping an open mind to other people’s ideas while at the same time holding on to our own opinion.
We usually relate to people who are similar to us, same tastes in music, clothes, or career choice. Not that doing this is wrong, but if we are looking for new perspectives, a good idea is to relate with people different from who we are. Some times we are not as bold as that, and making friends with someone new is not that easy, especially in a face to face situation. As you know, as we grow older, making new relations is a difficult thing to do. Again technology is working wonders in bringing people together, no matter how shy you are. Thanks to social networks and online communities we are able to meet people from all over the world, getting to know new cultures and lifestyles. Going on line and chatting with someone on the other side of the world is priceless when it comes down to broadening horizons, especially for those of us who can’t afford travelling.
If we are really to make the most of our lives in order to expand our minds, we should always be critical, we should never accept anything as an absolute truth; we should question everything before jumping to conclusions. Don’t take anything at face value. Get out there, life is there to be lived, and remember that it is you who gets to decide how far to go. As I said in the beginning, expanding your horizons is entirely up to you. Sky is the limit, they say.
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