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Mere Opinion is Valueless*
Can you imagine your Life
unriddled by opinions?
Picture yourself freed from
the interlaced ambiguities
of opinion-land.
How much extra time
would you have?
What would you do
with that wide, empty expanse?
How much better would your
spouse, friends,
kids, co-workers
and fellow church members
enjoy your company
without a single opinion forming
in either in your thought
or upon your lips?
What freedom can be found
from needing to
appraise constantly,
micromanage judgements,
and get the world in line
to see things your way!
How would being opinionless
change how we relate to others?
What would we talk about instead?
Would there be less disagreements
if opinion itself was circumvented?
On what would we base our behavior?
How would it feel to bask
in others’ lack of opinion?
Would you be at sea or relieved?
Do you depend on feedback,
building wobbly foundations
on flimsy, fickle,
fluctuating opinions?
Do you want others to?
Consider going on a fast.
Realize your opinion is not valued.
That’s hard to hear,
but is empirically true.
It takes true humility
to understand that
and to let it go.
Lose it already
and keep it gone.
Like those barnacles
on the bottom of a boat
that cause surface drag;
cruising is so much smoother
and more joyous
without those interlopers.
You are treasured,to be sure,
but you are not your opinions.
Principle is loved too,
but doesn’t require you
to moderate it, or approve it.
The world totally does have
need of you– you are essential–
but alas, your opinion is not.
It does not define you.
So why squander your being
on what is irrelevant?
Swear it off as nothing positive,
indeed valueless.
What could you be doing instead
that adds up to more good
like maybe tackling why
you are actually here?
by Polly Castor
*profound, pithy quote by Mary Baker Eddy
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6 Comments
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Very thought provoking!
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Thanks, Polly! Came at the perfect moment. (That’s a compliment and maybe a bit of an opinon…:-) )
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Ah … Yes….. Silence (and no opinions!)
for the space of half an hour!Shall we … no!…I!… shall I try it??
What’s my opinion re that Q!!?!
?
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What a wonderful wake-up! And the best (and hopefully forever) resolution ever!
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I read your Poem re Opinions
to my husband (who has no religion that he follows).
His response? I define my being with my Opinions and Beliefs! What would I BE without these?
A … blob??Food fer thought.
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[…] I often teach people that “mere opinion is valueless,” and I stand by that in general. My poem here expresses that point of view. However, when Principle comes into play, maybe it is more like conviction than […]
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