Stand Up For What You Believe In

Sometimes I think the world would be a much better place if everyone agreed with me, but I know that such a thought is ridiculous. Maybe the world would be more creative and imaginative, but it would also be extremely chaotic. Meetings wouldn’t exist and people would always be late to everything (actually this sounds pretty good to me).

But, alas, such a world will never exist and we all have to deal with the fact that people think differently from one another and sometimes these differences of thought and belief can cause conflict.

The inevitability of differences of opinion means that the only way we can exist is in a constant state of disagreement with those around us. And the only way to handle such different systems of thought is to talk to people you disagree with about your beliefs and have them share their thoughts as well.

I think it’s important to share your beliefs. Your opinions are valid regardless of how extreme they may seem. If we don’t express how we believe, then nobody can understand how we are experiencing the world.

Personally, I am an extremely opinionated person. Maybe people don’t agree with a lot of things that I say, but I think that’s okay.

I respect people who approach me when I’ve said something that bothers them. I respect the fact that they are willing to stand up for what they believe in despite the fact that I’ve said something that goes against their core values.

Having conversations with people that we disagree with is an important part of growth. The only way we can understand opposing perspectives is to talk to people who think that everything we’ve said is shit.

It’s cool if you think every part of my blog is utter bullshit. I don’t know everything, and my perspective is bound to be altered over the course of my life. I’m likely wrong about the majority of thoughts I hold. But from this, I wonder: What is wrong anyway? How can a thought be right?

I think maybe the majority of our thoughts are only opinons instead of facts. Personally I don’t think there is any objective reality, but I’d be open to debating anyone who thinks otherwise.

Regardless, it’s important to share our thoughts and open ourselves up to the diversity of opinions that exist.

It’s okay if we disagree, but that doesn’t mean we should close ourselves off to thoughts that evoke strong negative feelings within us. If we feel these strong feelings, we should ask why we feel the ways we do. Why did this opinion strike a cord? Is this revealing to ourselves a core value that is being challenged in the current moment? How does this core value impact our lives? Do we want to hold on or let go to this particular value?

All of these questions are important to ponder. The way we think is important to question. We cannot grow if we are stuck in a specific mindset.

I’m going to continue sharing my opinions regardless of whether or not these thoughts may bother some people, and I hope that others feel empowered to do the same. If we don’t stand up for what we believe in, then our voices will be lost. If we don’t question the world we live in, how can we expect any positive changes to occur? Staying silent is accepting the status quo. Refusing to speak up allows the more opinionated and outspoken people to take control.

When you hear your values being challenged, stand up for what you believe in. There’s no use in staying silent to keep the peace. Fuck peace. There is value in conflict and there is value in having meaningful discussions about the world.