The freedom of no opinion

 Off late I have started to follow this strategy of not to make any opinion about anything, well almost anything that is happening around me. Trust me it is a very difficult task when you are bombarded with so much information through the television and a plethora of social media and it becomes difficult to get the fact out of fiction.

I noticed that whenever I was forming an opinion on anything and starting to have a discussion with my friends or family then the mind is always in an agitated state. In most cases the opinions are formed on information whose validity is doubtful, to validate it I will have to go deeper. That requires time which I am not willing to invest on it. So the opinions were based on whatever concise information I was getting. Once I formed an opinion then the natural tendency during discussion is to get a positive validation. It becomes difficult to accept counter arguments even if those counter arguments are correct. It all boils down to winning the argument and this leads to often heated discussion.  In the hindsight when I think about it, I find that those opinions and discussions were actually on very trivial matters having little or no impact on my life. But it sure caused a desire to win the argument, an agitated mind and a few bruises to my ego.

So I changed myself and started my strategy of ‘no opinion’. It is not an easy task. First, I tried to cut off myself from any source of unnecessary information. I only skim through the news paper, listen to news on TV very less and reduce my social media. So when the source is limited then my chance of forming an opinion is also limited and therefore the desire to discuss and the attempt to win are also considerably reduced. On a daily basis so much is happening all around that if I start forming opinion on everything then it will only affect my peace of mind. If I am forming a positive opinion then it is ok but if I am forming a negative opinion then it starts hovering over my mind. Of all the opinions I am forming on anything, I am not in a position to change any of that, either I accept it or do not accept it. If I accept it then well and good but If I do not accept it then also I do not have any option but to accept it with a pinch of salt. For example, if the govt decides to increase lock down in my area then I will have to accept it whether I like it or not, whatever my opinion might be.

But another point to be kept in mind is that, having no opinion, should not lead to apathy because apathy is related to the feeling of helplessness. It is just that so many things happening around us like office gossip, celebrity news, political scandals etc need not require an opinion from my side. Only form opinions on things you are interested or invested in. By invested in I do not mean monetarily but things which you are passionate about. Rest all things should not clutter your mind unnecessarily.

Opinions are not something that is etched on stone. It can change; it is not a fact but is just a point of view on something, it is mostly biased and we can very well live without having any opinion about something. On the other hand it gives mental peace, it gives a freedom to focus our thoughts on things we like and matter in our life. So I have no reduced having and giving opinion on 99 percent of issues which I encounter in daily life and I am really enjoying it.