Being Opiniated

“ The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions”- Leonardo da Vinci

Opiniated people are usually seen as people who are entirely convinced with their worldviews and who will relentlessly and endlessly fight for what they believe in; never ready to budge. In many ways they might seem like brainless bulls running after the red cloth without ever looking at the bigger picture and maybe even missing the fundamental truths of life. In many other ways, the movers and shakers of the world, the ones who produce change are all opiniated people who have stood up and fought for their beliefs irrespective of what the world thought.

We form opinions in our minds each and every single second. Asserting them should in no way be a crime. On any day of the week, it is better than playing it safe and escaping possibly difficult conversations because even if you disagree with somebody, you end up modifying your opinion just a little bit, widen your horizons viewing the world and remove those blinkers from your eyes.

At this point I would like to explain that there is a fine line between being opinionated and judgmental. Being ‘opinionated’ is just an exercise of our right to speak our minds, to have a voice. And it is a right to be cherished. Opinions are our personal ideas even if they are based on unreasonable and stubborn thoughts. Being judgmental is a little different. Judging a person or even a situation usually results from considering and reviewing the opinions already formed in our minds. It is a culmination of what we think, what we have always believed and sometimes even what we want to believe ! But this may be highly dangerous. Our opinions are usually liable to change as an when we acquire more information about something. Our judgments are not.

I believe that even though you may come off as arrogant or abrasive, the skill lies in gauging your audience and knowing when to make yourself heard. Finally, being opinionated is not just stubbornly adhering to pre-conceived notions, it is about having a point of view, bringing it out and discussing it to help form the person you are.