No Opinions

Opinions have always been there. They are not like the wheel, facebook or the pill. Opinions have never been created by somebody or someone. They have existed since the beginning of time, spoken or not, opinions pervade our very existence. A few people believe that they do not have an opinion about anybody or anything, but even then, what they do is that they reserve their respective opinions. They keep to themselves what they think or believe in, but they still maintain an opinion.

An opinion is tough to get away from, a stance on somebody is tough to avoid, so I don’t avoid it. I don’t try to rid myself of opinions. I embrace opinions and all that come with them. The bouquets and brickbats are all par for the course when opinions are expressed and not merely maintained with oneself. Opinions are part and parcel of all that we face in life and watch others go through. To rid oneself of opinions would be to nullify the learning which we take pride in, at times.

An opinion is often a thing which separates, differentiates you from others or brings you closer to them. Opinions have the power to divide or unite, to create a passionate union of belief in something, anything! And then again, they have the strength to create a wall, a metaphorical one at that between yourself and others who prefer to dispose of your opinions with vehemence. Opinions teach, they preach, and sometimes, just maybe, they change. They might even wind up changing something which is believed in with blind faith, whose sanctity was thought to be beyond reproach, before your opinion plonked itself down with certainty.

Is an opinion powerful; is it ever worth lusting after? The beauty of an opinionated person is that he has a stand on anything and everything. He may or may not be fickle, but at least he has a say on every matter. The stand, howsoever ridiculous it might seem, at times, needs no solid backing because it has the unshakeable belief in one’s own thought process. It has the impeccable backing of the one who believes in it and sometimes that is all that the person with the opinion requires.

To trust yourself such that you reject all other opinions and dissent because your opinion is yours and yours alone is wondrous and scary all at once. But then again, that is what opinions can do. They can put your back up against the wall and make you face a smorgasbord of conflicting opinions OR they can unite you with other opinions to create a solution for a problem, if there ever was a problem!

Have an opinion, cultivate it, and even ponder over it for endless days at a time, if you must. Opinions are good, opinions are frustrating, they unite, they divide, but whatever you do you should have opinions. An opinion is the light in the darkness which lets you believe that you have a say, you will always have a say! Whether you want to express that opinion or not is up to you, and the courage for the same should be derived from the fact that despite all that you face, you dare to have an opinion which is yours and someday, it might be somebody else’s if you further dare, Do you?!