Openness has been a mainstay of my sadhana ever since I heard Gurumayi's Message for 2001, "Approach the present with your heart's consent. Make it a blessed event."
It's miraculous how openness to the present moment creates ease and sweetness in any situation. Recently, before contacting a person about a misunderstanding we'd had, I reminded myself, "Be open to their viewpoint." Immediately my own stance softened and I accepted the validity of a different perspective.
Since adopting openness as a practice, I've developed a "resistance meter," a heightened awareness of when I'm closing down. Some signals are: shallower breathing, slight body tension, and my mind fortifying a position. That's when I say to myself, "Relax. God is all around you. Open up." And then I experience a beautiful expansion into the moment, just as it is.
For me, staying open has become a way of saying yes to life, to grace, and to God's presence as this world.
a devotee from New York, USA