When we hear that we should expand our mind, we know it’s a good thing. But what exactly does it entail?

There is no absolute definition but we know it involves a smorgasbord of things.

The intake of new information. The intake of different information. The ability to see things in a different light. The ability to see things in a different angle.

But more importantly, the ability to see things in the bigger picture.

When we truly expand our minds, everything in our lives has a way of rearranging according so that it all gets put in their proper, respective places.

Many people say that traveling is one of the best ways to expand your mind. One of the big benefits of travel is the ability to get outside of what you deem as “normal” in your life and culture. Culture shock hits people hard. Some cultures work 24/7. Some slow down to enjoy life. The different ways in which people choose to live based on different ideas always makes us stop and think about what we are basing our decisions on in terms of how we decide to live.

And yet, despite all the differences, we find something that’s the same in everyone we meet, something we know connects us all as one. More on this later.

The second thing you can do is to literally try to expand your mind. Look up at the sky, imagine the universe, stretch all the way from your vantage point up across the sky, the atmosphere, the moon, the planets in our solar system, the millions of other galaxies and stars, until you get to the point where you begin to panic a little.

When we have that kind of “zooming out” perspective, the troubles we face in life don’t seem so big anymore and it allows us to focus on the more important issues in life. Why the heck am I here? To just exist and procreate? To pass on my genes? To continue the species?

What’s this all about?

What’s life all about?

To just work and consume what advertisers tell us to consume?

If you’re not ready for that kind of expansion, just go to the beach and look at the horizon. Feel your mind stretch. Or if you can’t get to the beach, climb on top of a hill or mountain and just look around. Take it all in. Let everything in your life fall into perspective.

I don’t remember exactly where I came across this, maybe from a book or movie, but it involved Superman taking a kid flying across the world. When he came back and asked the kid what he saw, the kid said he just saw trees, rivers, mountains, people, grass, flowers, etc.

No dividing state lines or countries. No political or governmental boundaries.

Just earth.

One planet.

One people.

And I think that’s important to realize to get over our petty racial/political/national differences.

Another way to expand your mind is to indulge and drink deeply from areas other than your main interest. Read something TOTALLY different from your current field of work. Attend lectures, seminars.

But make sure it interests you.

There’s no point or joy in just choosing a random subject and trying to drink deeply from it when you don’t enjoy it.

If you work on cars, read about architecture or military history if those subjects fancy you.

Why stretch yourself to delve into these different areas?

Because sooner or later, as time goes by, you’re going to realize a beautiful truth that I mentioned earlier in this article.

It’s all connected.

How you ask?

You’ll make the connections.

And each time you do, your mind expands in understanding. Nothing is as it seems. To the naked eye, the world might appear to be this combination of all these different random sorts of things, but in the end, are all connected.

Those who have small minds don’t see that yet.

They still exist in a world of one tree.

Not the whole forest.

Nor the world that it resides in.

And the universe it hangs in.

Just the lone tree. Let us expand our minds. Let us leave the comforts of what we know. Let us expose ourselves to different cultures that make us re-evaluate our own lives. Let us see things in the bigger picture. Let us put everything in our lives in the proper perspective. Let us learn from a variety of different subjects.

And let us connect the dots.

And realize that our focus shouldn’t be over the small, petty things, but on the bigger, more important issues in life.