Every morning, I take our dog Rosie for a peaceful beach walk before the
craziness of the day.
I truly cherish spending this time reflecting as I miss the philosophical
engagements with my Swiss friends… so instead… I have philosophical
discussions in my mind.
Today, given all the chaos, inhumanity and irrationality in the world, my thoughts
gravitated towards the delicate balance between opinion (and beliefs) and
respect for each other.
We all hold opinions, subjective interpretations of our world that are not the
truth. These opinions, formed and moulded by our upbringing and life
experiences, become beliefs when reinforced repeatedly. They are our
perception of life.
Here’s the paradox I’m observing: There’s a difference between mutable
opinions and enduring principles. For instance, a principle such as ‘always
respond with kindness’ is likely to remain constant over time and most of us
adhere to such principles. Yet… people’s opinions and actions, despite living by a
principle of kindness, may not always mirror this tenet. Depending on the
situation, our opinions and actions might deviate from kindness… be it because
the other person has another belief, another religion, another background,
another story, another perspective…
Is it possible then, to maintain our opinions, yet respect differing perspectives…
possibly reducing conflict? Absolutely! Is it easy? Not in the slightest.
It takes courage and awareness to honour and respect other’s opinions,
especially if they are the opposite of ours. It takes courage to confess when
we’re mistaken, or to change our own opinion as it might disrupt our identity.
Respect, fundamentally, is about finding common ground… and our shared
humanity is the most basic of these… we are all human (or so I thought. A
discussion for another day).
*Disclaimer: The musings above reflect my opinion, yours may differ from mine
and that’s when interesting discussions and learnings ensue if we treat each
other with respect. You are free to agree, disagree, or be ambivalent about the
above.
Or as author Simone Elkeles eloquently put it, “Opinions are like a-holes,
everyone has one.”
Either way, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.