What Valuing Your Opinion Does For Your Mental Health and Mindset

Image by Kara Fujita Jovic

    When we grow as human beings, it’s natural that we develop opinions, values, and beliefs. However, everyday I face this struggle in some aspect of my life where I’m wondering if my opinion is right. As constant learners we’re always looking for the right answer- the truth. But opinions and beliefs are something so undefined that our mind finds it hard to wrap themselves around the finite truth that our opinions hold, the only think true about them being that they are solely yours. We find it so difficult to fully understand that our beliefs are not the wrong ones just because they are not someone else’s. In many ways this natural human evolution of thought becomes a touchy subject- kind of like puberty: everyone has it but nobody wants to actually talk about their own.

    I think we’ve all adapted our opinion at some point in our life to match someone else’s. Even in our everyday lives we may unconsciously be going against our own values just to make someone else satisfied. So why do we really do this? Well, our opinions are the one think that flows inside our mind, that remains unshared with anyone else unless we choose to. It is the thing we hold on to and only choose to share, unlike our external features, therefore it makes us vulnerable. We fear this vulnerability because we are afraid of being openly criticized or judged by someone other than ourselves. We would rather take the easy, safe route and go against our own beliefs to match someone else’s. But in turn, this creates an empty feeling inside of us- a feeling of betrayal which can often harm our mindset and the way we see ourselves.

    After all, if we are discontent with our self-image and are unsure about what we believe in, it takes a toll on our mental health. We start to question our self worth. Furthermore, this leads to a cycle of constant lack of trust in ourselves- we seek assurance and comfort from knowing that we are not being judged by others, without realizing how damaging it is to our own self-confidence. 

    Changing your own opinions, however, is a lot different than just merely finding comfort in other people’s support. Our world is already constantly bombarded with false news and public opinions on mainstream media channels; finding privacy within the thin walls of society that are displayed online is tough. What’s even more tough is not getting affected by what others think about your opinion. But if you feel strongly about something, then I promise you nothing anyone says can make that belief irrelevant.

    Ask yourself: is there a reason I am giving this person that much power over me?

    And if you think you have the right answer for yourself, know that later, sticking with your gut, will make your mind happy. It’s a simple, mind-to-gut connection.

-Eshna G