everyone’s got an opinion

Everyone’s got an opinion.
And they have the right to express their opinions.
But more and more, I’m seeing opinions shared as if they are facts.

For example, I recently saw someone post that if you are using a guided meditation app, you’re doing the opposite of what meditation is about. Instead of using the app, they stated that you should just sit in silence with your Self and that it’s not that hard.

While there is some truth embedded in this person’s opinion–that when meditation first started, there were no apps to help guide you and that if you read a book about meditation, it will tell you to sit in silence, possibly follow your breath, or even recite a phrase or word. But, this does not mean that you cannot reach a meditative state or experience the benefits of meditation while listening to a guided meditation app. Most meditation apps are simply guiding you through following your breath or scanning your body, which does, in fact, help some people quiet their brain and receive the benefits of meditation; the voice providing the guidance is no different than the sprinklers that started going off at my neighbors, the birds chirping, and the car horn that all made an appearance in my meditation this morning—actually, the noises I heard sitting in silence outside were actually more distracting and less helpful than if I was listening to my Open App for a guided meditation.

Why does this one person’s opinion bother me so much?

These types of opinions-as-facts bother me because I know people are influenced by the opinions of others. And it triggers me when I see people using their platforms in a way that could discourage someone else from making progress. In the meditation example, who cares how someone experiences the benefits of meditation? Whether they are sitting in silence, lying down, walking, or listening to a guided meditation, if they can get more clarity, quiet their mind, and lower their stress and anxiety, then does it really matter if it was done sitting in silence?

Nope.

But as someone who tried for years to develop a meditation practice and struggled, it was the Open app that helped me build consistency with my practice. I might not use the guided meditation part of the app as often anymore, but without Open, I probably would not be meditating regularly; had I seen an opinion like the one I mentioned on the wrong day, I may have questioned my practice, gone back to trying to sit in silence, and possibly given up on the practice.

And I would hate to see a social media post do that to someone.

Another opinion-as-fact I recently saw focused on how financial advisors dress, the cars they drive, and whether or not they belong to a country club. Again, in this opinion, there is some truth. Appearance matters to the outside world, whether we want to admit it or not. However, not everyone has the same preferences. So, while some people want their financial advisor to be custom-suited up and driving a Benz to and from the country club, others are intimidated by that image or don’t trust it. The image that I’m supposed to represent according to this opinion is not authentic to me, and I believe it would not exude the confidence and success supported by the opinion.

Confidence is an energy, not an appearance. Yes, your appearance can make you feel confident—I wrote a daily not a long time ago titled “look good, feel good, be good.” The main idea is to look good for your Self, which will make you feel good, and in turn, you will be good. If you’re dressing for others and it doesn’t align with you, then you won’t feel your best, and won’t be your best.

Again, an opinion like this one might keep someone living an image that is not authentic to them and rob them of putting their authentic Self into the world and experiencing all of the benefits of being their Self—and all of the good that will come to the world because they are being the best version of their Self.

I’m working on not allowing opinions-as-facts to trigger me, and I’m also trying to be aware of how I state my opinions–I want them to be received as options to consider and explore, not the end-all-be-all that these posts present. I’ve stopped responding to these types of posts because I realized it only kept them on my mind longer and continued to bother me. Now, I read them, become annoyed for a moment, and then I focus my energy on something more positive so I don’t get sucked into the opinion.

I also have realized that those posts trigger me so much because they potentially rob someone trying to find their way–or even their authentic life because they are at a phase where they are easily influenced by others. I hate the idea of someone continuing to struggle to be the authentic version of their Self because they see someone with a big audience or name share an opinion as if it were fact.

Everyone has opinions.
Everyone has the right to express their opinions.
But remember, rarely are opinions facts.

See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,

JC