Sara's Midwestern Position-Opinions

To spice up the blog and get the comments rolling in, I thought I would try my hand at writing something with a little flare...something to make you like me or hate me. I plan on making this a weekly event titled Sara's Midwestern Position

I have always considered myself a self-assured sort. I stand up for the little people, speak my mind, and liberally give my two cents. Granted, there have been times when people haven’t cared for my two cents, yet with age, I have learned the graceful art of knowing my audience. There are times when I can confidently observe that I do not know a single thing about what is being discussed. Anything science, Lord of the Rings, and home repair would fall under this category. It is in these cases that I sit back and become a listener (and in some cases, a daydreamer).

Although I am not the perfect communicator, I am 99% of the time capable of accepting other peoples’ ideas and views because I have learned that everyone can and has an opinion. I am not so ignorant to believe that my opinion is the RIGHT opinion. Along with this study of human insight, I have learned that being completely definitive in my opinions and arguments are bad form.

Sometimes, it is okay to say nothing at all even though you have lots to say. There have been many times in the past year that I would like to say something but didn’t. I keep my mouth shut for a variety of reasons. First, the person who I’d be speaking to is not a receiver. He/she won’t REALLY hear what you have to say. Next, I have something at stake and don’t want to ruin my reputation or relationship with the person over something as trivial as whether carbonated beverages should be called “soda” or “pop”. Finally, I have come to know that most of the opinions don’t matter anyway. There have been times when I wanted to give my opinion, but I find my mind becoming the type of person that I don’t like…I know that I know more about a subject than the person that I am speaking to, and if I wanted to, I could verbally assault them, but that is not my style. Instead, I tend to sit back and listen to this person and either let them dig themselves a deeper and deeper hole or count the minutes until the ignorance ends.

Now, all this being said, I am the first to admit that I share a lot of my opinions. There is nothing wrong with opinions. Just be nice, respectful, semi-educated, and willing to drop a topic when discussing opinions.