Opinions Are Optional
Welcome back to Mid-Week Meditations , Lifehacker’s weekly dip in the pool of stoic wisdom and a guide to using its waters to meditate and improve your life.
This week’s selection is taken from the personal notes of Marcus Aurelius. He emphasizes an important truth about the nature of opinions:
You always have the option of not having an opinion. You never need to worry or disturb your soul about things that you cannot control. These things do not require your judgment. Leave them.
Meditation , 6.52
What does it mean
You don’t need to have any opinion about anything. Issues that cause disagreements that are beyond your control will continue to exist regardless of whether you support or destroy them, discuss or hide them, love them or hate them. Why torture yourself and make yourself miserable just to be heard?
What to take from there
It is difficult not to have opinions in a world where they are so easy to share and constantly use to shape ourselves. After all, our personal views of problems, people, places, and things are what drives much of our conversations on and off the Internet. Some things – like politics and social issues – deserve our attention because with the help of well-formed opinions they can be changed.
Other things cannot be influenced so easily, if not at all, whether it be food with a special flavor, proven scientific fact, someone’s ingrained personality, or a big-budget film trying to live up to the impossible expectations of a multi-generational fanbase. … Your opinion is not necessary for these things to exist, and it will not change them in any way. When it comes to things that are completely out of your control, your opinion means absolutely nothing. It is simply a tool that you use in an attempt to define yourself in front of others, hoping that someone will notice and validate you.
But you must be more than your likes and dislikes, friend! Do yourself a favor and give up the idea that you should have your own opinion about everything. First, free yourself of useless opinions and feel the burden being lifted. An artistic choice, fact, or other point of view should no longer mean a personal injury to your very being. And when you are faced with something that you know nothing about, do not rush to form an opinion until you understand it better. You might say, “I don’t know enough about this yet to express my opinion.” You may be able to take part in the discussion later if you find it important. After all, this void, once filled with opinions, can be filled with action, knowledge, gratitude, and peace.
Bottom line: Opinions are a choice, not a requirement. If you don’t like something (and it is out of your control), respect your time and well-being and move on. It’s the same if you really like something and feel the need to protect it. Let go, champion. No warriors are needed for these battles.