The Power of Opinion
I think it's amazing just how much opinions influence life. A movie critic's opinion can persuade one to either go see or avoid seeing a movie. A an author's opinion can lead one to live their life by the personal opinion that they read in that book. An individual's opinion can lead another to think of something or even someone in either a negative or positive way, thus completely distorting the mindset of another and causing them to judge before they experience on their own. It's the latter type of opinion that I choose to focus on tonight-- the power of an individual's opinion over another in terms of getting to know a third party.
We've all been told never to judge a book by its cover. I've had people tell me things about the men and women in my life that were unfavorable, but never once did I let that person's opinion destroy my view of that person. Why? Because I believed it was unfair to the person being talked about for me to judge them based off of what someone else told me as opposed to me getting to know them myself and finding out on my own. I figure that a person's opinion should be an explanation of one person's personal experience, but not necessarily the basis for a second person's future actions. If I ended up getting burned like I was told, then hey, lesson learned. But I still felt good in my heart that I did not let someone else's negative opinion persuade me to write that person off before I got to know them myself. After all, you never know what each person in your life is put there for.
Similarly, I've had others say negative things about me that have caused people to look at me differently, say or call me dirty things, and even be so bad as to avoid me all together in terms of developing both friendships and relationships. And why do they choose to avoid getting to know me themselves? Yup, you've got it-- because they are too afraid of what another person's opinion will become of them. I sometimes find it humorous, especially when a particular person's opinion is in all actuality a blatant LIE, but yet they still somehow managed to have the power over another person's mindset and views, completely cheating someone of the opportunity to show their own personality and true colors, and cheating the other person of the opportunity to get to know what could possibly be a great person who could change their lives.
All over the place you have people giving you their two cents or "giving advice" as many like to call it, and then following it up with, "...but that's just my opinion." At the end of the day, everyone has their opinion about something...but as individuals who are only trying to make the best choices for themselves in life, how do we decide which opinions are important versus those that are unimportant? How do we distinguish one's opinion being just that-- an innocent opinion, versus one that's just someone "hating"? How can we really validate anyone's opinion if we have not taken the time to go through the experience on our own? Why is it that other people's opinions and what they think so damn important to us? Is it impossible to pursue one's own happiness without considering the input of another?
We've all been told never to judge a book by its cover. I've had people tell me things about the men and women in my life that were unfavorable, but never once did I let that person's opinion destroy my view of that person. Why? Because I believed it was unfair to the person being talked about for me to judge them based off of what someone else told me as opposed to me getting to know them myself and finding out on my own. I figure that a person's opinion should be an explanation of one person's personal experience, but not necessarily the basis for a second person's future actions. If I ended up getting burned like I was told, then hey, lesson learned. But I still felt good in my heart that I did not let someone else's negative opinion persuade me to write that person off before I got to know them myself. After all, you never know what each person in your life is put there for.
Similarly, I've had others say negative things about me that have caused people to look at me differently, say or call me dirty things, and even be so bad as to avoid me all together in terms of developing both friendships and relationships. And why do they choose to avoid getting to know me themselves? Yup, you've got it-- because they are too afraid of what another person's opinion will become of them. I sometimes find it humorous, especially when a particular person's opinion is in all actuality a blatant LIE, but yet they still somehow managed to have the power over another person's mindset and views, completely cheating someone of the opportunity to show their own personality and true colors, and cheating the other person of the opportunity to get to know what could possibly be a great person who could change their lives.
All over the place you have people giving you their two cents or "giving advice" as many like to call it, and then following it up with, "...but that's just my opinion." At the end of the day, everyone has their opinion about something...but as individuals who are only trying to make the best choices for themselves in life, how do we decide which opinions are important versus those that are unimportant? How do we distinguish one's opinion being just that-- an innocent opinion, versus one that's just someone "hating"? How can we really validate anyone's opinion if we have not taken the time to go through the experience on our own? Why is it that other people's opinions and what they think so damn important to us? Is it impossible to pursue one's own happiness without considering the input of another?
posted by Kimmie91783 @ 11:22 PM
1 Comments:
At 8:11 AM,
My_Expressions said…
How can we really validate anyone's opinion if we have not taken the time to go through the experience on our own?
In response to your question, we really can't validate an individual’s opinion about someone or a situation because we haven't yet experienced their situation; however, we can use what they tell us as a warning and as a personal reminder for us to be cautious of that individual or situation.
Personally, I try not to listen to what others say, but I also use wisdom and keep what people tell me in mind. If, in fact, what they tell me isn't true, then that just ruins their credibility. Ultimately, they are risking their reputation also.
Why is it that other people's opinions and what they think so damn important to us?
It's not really important, BUT everyone gossips. It's sad, but it’s also true. We may not agree to gossiping, but we all tend to listen if we hear dirt on someone, especially someone we know. We may not entertain the conversation by reciprocating with negative comments, but we will listen to what is being said. This goes back to the word “reputation”. Your reputation and how you are perceived is VERY IMPORTANT. You don't want to do anything that will ruin your reputation because essentially, it will follow you until the day you die. Don't give people a reason to talk about you. If you have a good reputation, then anyone who really knows you will already know something is untrue if they hear something negative about you.
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