"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion"
How many times in your life have you heard this phrase? If this statement is true, then why do people pitch a fit when people have the nerve to have opinions that differ from their own?
I have recently discovered something. If my opinion matches someone else's, they are happy, but if not, they are more likely to assume my opinion is wrong.
Now I'm not saying that I'm perfect. Yes, sometimes other people's opinions really upset me - but mostly only when they try to pass them off as fact rather than opinion. But I try to listen to other's opinions because if I want them to respect my opinion, I have to respect their opinion too, right?
But this is what I have found ....
I can respect that you love something I do not like. But you have to respect that I don't like something you love!
There are some books out there that I, quite frankly, do not care for. Yes I have read them, I am not just choosing to not like them. But when people discover this - well it is like I've committed one of the seven deadly sins! But tons of my close friends love these books and I'm OK with that. I'm OK with others liking these books even though I don't .... so shouldn't I be given that same respect for not liking them? Shouldn't people be OK with me not liking the books, even though they do??
Yes. My opinion is fact. Ha Ha. Good post. It can be hard though to respect people for holding certain opinions sometimes. I'm often offended by ignorant opinions.
ReplyDeleteI think DA hit on something. Ignorant opinions really gaul me. If someone has an intelligent opinion, then it's at least something I can respect. But if a person ignorantly believes something, and then insists that it is fact without ever knowing why, then that's when I shut down. Now if it's just "blue is a much prettier color than green" debate, then that's so subjective as to being ridiculous. Obviously green is a much prettier color.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you both :)
ReplyDeleteThat is why I added the part about "sometimes other people's opinions really upset me - but mostly only when they try to pass them off as fact rather than opinion."
When people are ignorant but try to convince you that they know something is "right", I have learned the value of keeping my mouth shut, my ears open, and my opinion to myself. They rarely want to hear other peoples' opinions anyway. But I also have learned to not talk to those people about anything that could get them opinionated :) It saves me time, trouble, and patience!
New follower here saying hello from A to Z.
ReplyDeleteI try my best to be empathetic towards those who have different opinions than I do. Being able to put myself in someone else's shoes helps me with my writing too, especially when I'm thinking about all my different characters, some of whom do not share the same opinions on a variety of topics.