Here’s the Truth About Your Opinion

And it will probably piss you off

Opinions are like belly buttons — right? Everyone has one.

Frankly, I’m exhausted by the multitude of them spewed everywhere lately like they’re factual and exclusive.

Why oh why, should I be ashamed of myself if I don’t share your viewpoint?

Let’s start by agreeing on the definition of what an opinion is.

“An opinion is a judgment, viewpoint, or statement that is not conclusive, rather than facts which are true statements.” — Wikipedia

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s churn things up a bit.

Do you secretly feel your opinion is the only one worth having?

Do you have a fantastic superpower that allows you to wade through all the bullshit we’re fed and go straight to the absolute truth?

Doubt it, but if you do, I’d love to hear about it.

“Your opinion is not my reality.” — Dr. Steve Maraboli

Yes, we value the right to believe what we think is correct and to express our opinions accordingly. But when you’re sharing yours, please keep in mind that it may not be conclusive.

Although we are all entitled to our opinions, not all of them are equally valuable. This is why opinions by “experts” are more valued in court testimonies because they’re based on facts, knowledge and expertise.

An opinion is nothing more than an expression of your feelings or thoughts that may or may not be based on data. Our emotions, personal experiences, and values shape the majority of them — all of which can be utterly unsupported by meaningful evidence.

That would also explain why we’re so passionate about expressing them.

2020 seems to be the year to express our political opinions forcefully and insist they are flawless. I’ve been completely blown away by some of them.

We’re even experiencing some raised eyebrows inside my immediate family, and we’ve always been cautious about keeping our political and religious views to ourselves. But there is notable tension building.

Hey, I’m even shocked by some of my own opinions on recent events.

I’ve never felt the need to express them as I have in the last four months. Sometimes I want to shake people by the shoulders in hopes they’ll wake up and see it my way.

Have you noticed that as well?

There are emails, social media posts and things written here on Medium that leave me shaking my head. Why? Because they are so opposite to my life experiences, emotions and values that they leave me feeling angry, frustrated and frankly bewildered.

“Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance.” — Plato

Yes, our worlds have been flipped upside down, and there seems to be an endless list of global issues. Lately, they tend to overlap onto the next one without any breathing room in between.

So we’re left with the feeling that everything and everyone has gone bonkers as we scramble to make sense of it all.

Naturally, that gets us paying more attention to the headlines.

Enter the media.

We must consider the media’s influence on people’s behaviour. I’m confident we can all agree that the majority of what we read and watch is riddled with fake news, editorial opinions, political slants/agendas, corruption, conspiracy theories and a whole lot of other nonsense.

The media can manipulate, persuade and even control what happens in the world in both positive and negative ways; mentally, physically and especially emotionally.

They sprinkle the facts in, but it’s becoming more and more challenging to determine the truth amongst all the rubbish.

I swear the ‘powers that be’ stir things up purposely to have us fighting amongst ourselves so that we pay less attention to the manipulation coming from the top.

That’s just my opinion.

But believing that gives me pause to consider what most people position their opinions on.

Everything that has erupted since George Floyd’s death infuriates me, so I wanted to share my view because I’m passionate about it. Sourcing the article with facts, however, proved to be complicated.

There is so much trash online that finding credible sources to collect solid evidence is tough. Most of the video I saw in the first days after the incident has completely disappeared from the internet.

“Whoever controls the media controls the mind.” — Jim Morrison

We’ve all experienced life through different lenses, and we’ve been shaped by our experiences, influences, our upbringing, political views, religions, life lessons and tragedies.

It can be difficult to understand other points of view when you don’t share them, and we can get quite emotional about it. But please show some compassion, don’t shame or belittle others who don’t see it your way.

The media already does an excellent job of spreading hate and fear amongst us, and we can’t let it pull us apart as the human race.

Let some good old fashioned common sense filter in, and don’t rely on the media to do your thinking for you.

When that Facebook post gets you fired up because you don’t agree with it, fight the urge to respond. Debating, or leaving dismissive, abusive and downright hateful comments accomplishes nothing. You’re not changing anyone’s mind, so scroll on past it.

Go for a walk, hug your kid or snuggle with your dog until the feeling passes.

Stop adding fuel to the already burning fire, and it will burn itself out.

After all, it’s just your opinion. And that’s mine.