We all do it. Kings, queens, politicians, business owners, journalists, the baker, you, me. As a storytelling breed we create new stories on a daily base. Some stories inherited from ancient tales, others found in modern research and whatever the source, we like to form opinions based upon those stories.
It is OK
Written it before and I will always believe in this: it’s In our nature and it is OK to form your own opinion. It is even incorporated in our Universal Human Rights. To me it also means: as long as your opinion doesn’t deliberately hurt someone (or something) by suppressing, discriminating or diminishing another. Don’t deny you have an opinion, because that statement… it is also an opinion. Again, it is OK. Without forming your own opinion by questioning the stories told, you will never discover who you are. You are not your father, teacher or any other story teller.
“I do not accept any absolute formulas for living. No preconceived code can see ahead to everything that can happen in a [person’s] life. As we live, we grow and our beliefs change. They must change. So I think we should live with this constant discovery. We should be open to this adventure in heightened awareness of living. We should stake our whole existence on our willingness to explore and experience.” ― Martin Buber
We are entitled to have our own opinions. However, we are not entitled to declare that opinion as an absolute truth. It is crucial to question your own opinion, to keep an open mind of that of others AND not believe everything presented to you. Find out what the source of the storyteller is, where their strong beliefs come from. On what a person base his opinions. Keep growing.
Who died and made you king?
It is everyone’s responsibility to seek their own truth. We come into this world with a clean slate, with our core value integrity and deep down inside, we know what is wrong or right. I do believe a universal truth exists. That truth is not about the who is right or wrong, that truth is about respecting each other’s differences. And thus also the different opinions we form.
We need to understand that ultimately we know nothing. Even if possessing all the wisdom available in the world today, we still know nothing. Politicians, business owners, journalists, the baker, you, me: nobody has all the answers. Not even queens or kings. What we should know: when to accept your story is based on a fairy tale, not on facts.
As a researcher of existing knowledge, philosophizing about why we do what we do, observing the world and the stories being told today, I can’t help thinking:
Who died and made you king?
6 Responses
I agree. I’ve been in a bit of an existential limbo, and some of what you say here rings true.
Me too 🙂 If not familiar with her already, I think you appreciate the work of Emmy van Deurzen: https://www.emmyvandeurzen.com/
Okay. I’ll check her out.
As always, a thoughtful and thought-provoking post Patty. I whole-heartedly agree, we’re all entitled to our opinions and stories, but it’s crucial to remember they ARE opinions and stories, carrying not more weight or importance or personal truth than anyone else’s story. One of the things I like to do is encourage people to consider what it would be like if they didn’t hold on to their stories so tightly. Sort of as an exercise is releasing the importance of defining yourself in some fixed unchanging way. I also mean it as an encouragement to allow that if we aren’t open to changing our opinions, of considering other ideas and things, we aren’t evolving.
Exactly, dear Deborah. We have to stay open for each others stories and might even discover how similar our stories are. Thank you for visiting again. XxX