Guard your hearts, but keep them open.

I was thinking... 

When someone has a different set of beliefs than you have, that doesn't mean you can't learn from that person. It sounds like an obvious statement but sometimes we allow that to be a wall between us that we don't even realize we've constructed.  

If someone you respect has one stance of many different from yours, you don't have to throw out everything they've ever said or will say. I think we're grown enough to sift through it. I've been so guilty of this in the past. That's why I know it's true. 

Don't discard what someone says just because they live a different way, believe a different thing or have a past different from yours. Since when did that (being different from you) make their thoughts invalid?  It should even enhance your conversations. It's ok for your convictions to be strengthened and it's ok for you to change your mind via these very conversations.  I think it's beautiful when we say, "I hear you. I've never seen it that way." 

You can accept a thought without accepting a mentality. You can learn from someone without converting to their way of thinking. 

Guard your hearts, but keep them open.

And for the love, if you're wrong, say it without guilt. We all need to hear an unapologetic, "I was wrong."