Treasure our differences
There was this one time when we were having a boys night out socializing at the coffee shop and reliving the good old memories. Everything was fine until my friend started comparing his life and a few of my friends.
Here’s the problem.
Adam* is a great guy to chill and get silly with. But when it comes to discussions, he sees his views as the only answer. The others simply don’t stand a chance.
Sometimes it can hit us hard, like bricks (I don't mean clarity) which can knock our minds off and shove it down our throats.
The rest of us simply put up with this for the sake of our friendship, either by poking fun or try to lighten the mood. After all, it is rare for us to hang out nowadays.
But what if Adam was really right all along? That all matters can easily be simplified into black and white?
Perhaps we are the immature bunch and Adam brings clarity. Because when it comes to opinions, he is very certain of his.
The woes of turning off
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, no matter how discomforting or disagreeable it might sound to you. After all, we are all brought up with different values and belief.
When we resist, we are essentially closing off our thoughts to understand how the person derive to a conclusion. We dismissed them off and subsequently harboring prejudice toward their opinions.
Prejudice can lead to bigotry. Left unchecked, it can fester and devolve into extreme camps and groups.
We have seen it in the news; the atrocities of sectarian violence, politicians using division as a tool to push an agenda and other “divide and conquer” techniques to destabilize a region.
The ones who benefit are always those who seek to exploit people, which is always for their own selfish desire.
The benefits of tuning in
Instead, we should adopt an open mind and embrace our differences with one another. For acceptance of others’ opinions allow us to show our courtesy and forbearance.
Nowadays, I cherish disagreements. I find it a pleasure to have someone who shares a different opinion from me. These are the people that help me broaden my perspectives and challenges the norms that I hold dear.
There is a certain joy to refine and reshape the boundaries of my thoughts. In turn, it also encourages me to exchange my perspective, while we explore the issue from an objective way and see if there is a point where our agreements might converge to a commonality.
Conclusion
We can either choose to see differences as a harbinger for disunity or a unifying path for a stronger relationship.
Like two faces from a single coin, destined to flip the other whichever you turn to.
Perhaps everything in life is as simple as black and white.
What do you think about this piece? Let me know.
Thank you for reading.
