If our world is colored, why does it seem so black and white sometimes? It feels like everyone is divided up by their opinions and it’s either this or that, but it’s not. There are a multitude of opinions on every matter that can’t be divided into two sides. My parents are opposites and, in my experience, it’s either their way or the highway for me. I just can’t figure out how either of them could be right. Politically, my mom is all the way to the right and my dad is on the left and i’m just somewhere else. By this, I mean my mom is a Trump supporter and my dad isn’t, but his opinions are still a little off from mine.
Both of my parents are foreign and from completely different parts of the world so they have different views on the world than most people in San Francisco. My dad is also 70 years old, so the double generational gap definitely affects our relationship. Friendly dinner table conversation quickly becomes a heated debate and then everyone’s upset and the night is ruined. It’s as if the whole of America is in my house. It’s impossible for me to agree with either of them but it’ll make me more upset if I don’t. When I don’t agree with them, somehow it feels like my fault. This also means that I get in trouble. Sound familiar? Sound fair? They would never change their opinions because that’s not how they’re wired. As a result, I’ve come to realize that we are all correct in our own way. There is no right or wrong answer, but it feels like sometimes we’re pressured to have certain opinions by the people around us.
I used to think it was right to agree with everything my parents said, for the sake of their feelings and mine, but I realized that forming my own opinion is more important. At first, it scared me to stray away from what my parents thought and wanted me to think, but it was impossible for me to side with both of their opinions because most of them were in direct opposition. I felt pressured to choose sides at first, but sometimes, I didn’’t agree with either of them. Once I realized I didn’t need to agree with what they say and that I could be my own person, I felt liberated. I Now I can speak my mind without fear because we’re all meant to think differently, that’s how the world keeps going. I did this by thinking about my values and opinions by myself with no influence, and then standing by them when asked.
Think of your opinions like your material belongings. You should always keep them with you and stand behind them. Differing ideas are the key to an advancing world and should not be shut down and ignored. Getting to the point where you don’t care about what people think and forming your own opinions is hard, but I encourage everyone to find it in themselves to do this. It helps not only yourself but everyone in the world too.
