Article #6

Keeping an open mind

Let me begin this writing by explaining where exactly my topic derives from, and why I chose to write about it. My mom had consistently been telling me to read a book called The Janitor. She vowed to me that the read would be worth it, and so I agreed to finish the book by the time summer vacation was over. As I read the synopsis on the back side of the cover, I realized that the book had something to do with business. And I do not like business. It instantly changed my perspective about the novel, and I regretted the promise I made to my mom. I decided to put off the book and hoped that my mom forgot about our deal. Days passed, and she was yet to mention a word about the agreement. Luck seemed to favor me. However, I could not help but think that she still knew about the accord, and was merely avoiding discussion until summer was over. “Fine by me”, I thought to myself. “There is no way I’m ever reading this”.

Fast forward the time to yesterday. I cannot begin to express how boring yesterday was. Saying that there was nothing to do would be an understatement. The internet wasn’t working, and the most interesting show on TV was National Geographic’s feature about snails. Trust me; I love National Geographic, but snails aren’t very interesting creatures at all. I wanted to tear my hair out. At that instant, I thought about The Janitor. If there ever was a time more perfect for me to read it, this was it. The situation couldn’t get any worse than it already was. I opened the book and hoped for the best. The first few pages passed with relative ease, and I was pleasantly surprised. With the passing of each minute came the flipping of more pages, until it reached the point where I couldn’t keep track of the time. When I stopped, I was astonished with not only how quickly the time had passed, but also with how good the novel actually was and how much I had enjoyed myself. I had read about half of the book in just 4 hours. Although I was pleased, I cursed at myself for not reading earlier. The excruciatingly boring day prior to reading the book served as a justified punishment for my close-mindedness.

Unarguably, this has been one of the most valuable life lessons that I have learned. And I hope that you can learn from it as well. Keep an open mind to anything that you aren’t sure of, because chances are that it will turn out better than you expect. The worst possible case that can happen is that you will end up hating whatever it may be. Even then, you can use it as a learning experience so that you do not have to do it again. It’s a win-win situation, regardless of the outcome.

Divyash Chhetri

USA (Phoenix, Arizona)