By Linda C Davies
It takes courage to be able to uphold your own beliefs when the majority of people in our culture do not support them. Even if a billion people disagreed with us about something, this does not mean we dismiss our own beliefs in order to seek their approval. Despite their protestations, they may be wrong about something and we may be correct.
If we look at human history, we can find many examples of people who were ostracized for attempting to come up with a new theory or idea about something that challenged the current paradigm of that time period. To their credit, many of these individuals did not waver in their strong beliefs or succumb to pressures that were imposed upon them by others to dismiss their own beliefs even at the expense of losing credibility within their professional or personal communities.
Although it may have been unpleasant for some people to have remained strong in their convictions, this does not mean everyone who has stuck to their beliefs have had negative experiences. There are probably just as many cases of people who were supported by others who trusted their newly creative endeavor or new idea would eventually materialize into something concrete or be recognized by society.
Thus, faith in themselves translated into others having faith in them. Even so, this does not mean others lack of support has necessarily deterred some who have a strong sense of self from believing something to be true.
Sometimes when an individual makes a statement about something that is seemingly unpopular, support for their opinions may come from the most unlikely individuals. It is not as if what they have said is not believed or felt by these people before; rather, these people who now support them have been too afraid to express the same thought or idea for fear of rejection and criticism by others who they assumed held opposite beliefs.
I often wonder when I am in a group setting how many people actually believe what they are saying or are they saying something in order to avoid others disapproval. I have found myself sometimes saying nothing rather than something about what I believe to be true in order to avoid others condemnation. However, more often than not, I find myself expressing what I believe to be true because I want to be true to myself.
It is important to be open to others opinion and realize even if they adamantly disagree with us, this does not in any way invalidate what we believe to be true. When we all come to terms with accepting what is true for ourselves, it will no longer matter what others think about us.
Although what I have just said may seem cliche, I think it is important to heeds these words. When one considers how group conformity is sometimes adhered to more often over individual opinions and expression, it is important to express one's uniqueness in order for this world to show her wonderful and colorful self to the fullest.
© 2012 Linda C Davies
If we look at human history, we can find many examples of people who were ostracized for attempting to come up with a new theory or idea about something that challenged the current paradigm of that time period. To their credit, many of these individuals did not waver in their strong beliefs or succumb to pressures that were imposed upon them by others to dismiss their own beliefs even at the expense of losing credibility within their professional or personal communities.
Although it may have been unpleasant for some people to have remained strong in their convictions, this does not mean everyone who has stuck to their beliefs have had negative experiences. There are probably just as many cases of people who were supported by others who trusted their newly creative endeavor or new idea would eventually materialize into something concrete or be recognized by society.
Thus, faith in themselves translated into others having faith in them. Even so, this does not mean others lack of support has necessarily deterred some who have a strong sense of self from believing something to be true.
Sometimes when an individual makes a statement about something that is seemingly unpopular, support for their opinions may come from the most unlikely individuals. It is not as if what they have said is not believed or felt by these people before; rather, these people who now support them have been too afraid to express the same thought or idea for fear of rejection and criticism by others who they assumed held opposite beliefs.
I often wonder when I am in a group setting how many people actually believe what they are saying or are they saying something in order to avoid others disapproval. I have found myself sometimes saying nothing rather than something about what I believe to be true in order to avoid others condemnation. However, more often than not, I find myself expressing what I believe to be true because I want to be true to myself.
It is important to be open to others opinion and realize even if they adamantly disagree with us, this does not in any way invalidate what we believe to be true. When we all come to terms with accepting what is true for ourselves, it will no longer matter what others think about us.
Although what I have just said may seem cliche, I think it is important to heeds these words. When one considers how group conformity is sometimes adhered to more often over individual opinions and expression, it is important to express one's uniqueness in order for this world to show her wonderful and colorful self to the fullest.
© 2012 Linda C Davies
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