Thoughts on forming your own opinions.

If you’ve read my blog before you’ll probably know that I enjoy voicing my personal opinions on certain aspects of life, and as you can tell by the title of this blog post I even have an opinion on opinions. There are certain guidelines I like to follow when forming an opinion or voicing an opinion.

I think that a lot of people tend to follow their parents, or their friends opinions on certain things. This could be what they like to do in their spare time, their religion, or which political party they vote for. I definitely agree that we should listen to other people’s opinions and I think it’s very important to hear what other people think and have to say, and to learn that some people are going to have different opinions to yours. However, listening and taking into account someone’s point of view on a matter is very different to just agreeing and copying their argument if you don’t necessarily believe in it. I personally know for a fact that I don’t agree with my parents and some of my friends on certain issues, and this could be because my parents have had different experiences to me, and because my friends and I have grown up in different circumstances. Despite their opinions differing with mine, it doesn’t mean that we don’t get along and can’t discuss these matters; it just means that we have to be accepting of each other’s opinions, and agree to disagree a lot of the time.

I’m proud to say that I have been able to form opinions on a lot of matters by myself, and I take pride in researching and educating myself in an issue before I form a definite opinion or even consider voicing it. When voicing an opinion I have to make sure I 100% agree with what I am saying, because if someone contradicts me I have to be able to form an argument I believe in. There is also the issue of voicing an unpopular opinion which other people don’t agree with, and therefore you may loose certain friendships – if the issue is important to both of you and you feel very adamant either way  - or there may be tensions within certain relationships. I am all for people voicing their own opinions and enjoy listening to what other people think on issues around the world, however I am hesitant to listen if the opinion isn’t genuine or the person doesn’t fully understand what they are talking about. 

I know that I do this – I form an opinion on something (usually political – admittedly) which I don’t really know the ins and outs of, and if I have really taken an interest in the issue I will look it up later on and read up about it (usually to find out my opinion was completely wrong – admittedly). However, I know and understand that I am not qualified to voice these opinions because I don’t really know what I’m talking about, so I keep them to myself for when/if I feel comfortable to speak about it. It’s all right me voicing my opinion on ‘#YesAllWomen’ or ‘The taboo of mental health’, because for the most part I have a good idea of what I’m talking about, and I feel comfortable with them. But if I feel the least bit unsure about an issue I have some sort of opinion on, I won’t voice it because of the fear of later realizing how wrong I was, and regretting voicing an opinion that wasn’t really mine. I just feel that people should take their time to form their own opinions, by listening and talking and reading and researching an issue they are interested in and maybe they’d surprise themselves on what they truly believe and stand for, and who they really are.