I believe everyone’s opinion is important. This is why I agree that everyone should talk about what they believe in. If I believe you are wrong but you bring me the facts, show mutual respect and your opinion won’t physically harm yourself or others, we can have an intellectual debate. 

I have stood by this belief for some time now. One thing that has changed though is that I choose my battles. For those who may be as opinionated as me or even more, not every battle is worth the fight.

I suggest, as much as it hurts me to say this, that sometimes it is just better to keep your mouth shut. 

Some people are just ignorant and don’t want to change. It still blows my mind how people don’t believe that racism still exists. How people think it is “wrong” for a woman to breast feed in public. That people can’t see that yes, we do live in a white privileged world. 

It scares me that people can’t let people love who they want to love. Love, that is something that is extremely important in life. If we can’t let people love, then how are we going to find peace on earth or even our city? 

But, some people, I don’t even bother trying to change their close-minded views. I let them rant or I just walk away as long as it won’t make the situation worse. Some humans are just dumb and you can’t reason with them even if it makes perfect, logical sense. 

Also, another issue for choosing battles is it will just make for a friendlier atmosphere. I think many people can relate to those times when they are around family or friends who hold different political or social beliefs. Tensions get high, emotions rise, people say things they don’t truly mean and it is just a horrible experience for everyone involved. So, make the wise decision and make sure that your opinion is worth voicing. Your emotional well-being is more important than you trying to change the mind of those that are ignorant, closed-minded, believe lies, are unable to open their eyes and see what is right in front of them or just make it obvious that the human race does not deserve to continue. 

One final point on why we all must choose our battles is that today’s society is over-sensitive. It seems to me that every little action that we do is going to offend someone. 

In my eyes, just by choosing when to take a breath, I’ll offend someone. The same principle applies for opinions. If we speak our mind, we will offend someone and that just makes for a bad day.

To the intellectual that makes the right decisions in political and social current events, kudos to you. For those people who are wrong, I do hope that we can have a lively discussion one day, but I will choose my battle before speaking my mind. I would rather keep my mouth shut than have a dire decision where I stop caring all because someone was either too sensitive or just plain brain-dead.