Freedom

The older I get, the less opinionated I get.  What a relief not to have to make a judgment on every little political issue, celebrity scandal or new trend that pops up in the news.  I barely even register opinions about people I know, because I don't have to!  I'm sure they're all doing their best and probably not trying to annoy me, and besides, it's a reality that everyone is going to have different opinions.  I will say, I hate other people's opinions sometimes.  They rankle me.  Do you ever find yourself incredulous that someone you thought was so smart or kind or informed could have an opinion that's a polar opposite of yours and therefore idiotic?  Ha ha.  Sometimes I'm amazed at the passionate opinions people form from so little information, as if you could get the whole picture from a few articles you saw on facebook.  Everything, and I mean everything, is more complex than that.  And you know that things you read may not be true, right?

I used to find myself thinking about people, "Are you serious with that hair?"  Some styles!  And now, I have no room to talk.  So that's been a benefit of going outside my comfort zone with the ridiculous hair colors.  I pretty much take in stride any fashion statement.

I used to have definite opinions on parenting, as if there was a recipe for success, and I was in possession of it.  At the same time, I felt deep down that I needed my way to be the right way because I wasn't actually certain that it was.  Now?  I'm positive I don't have a recipe for success or anything approaching it.  I'm just trying to trust my intuition, knowing that each child and each situation is different.  And I get that other parents are doing the same thing.  Like I tell my kids, "There's always going to be someone better than you and someone worse than you."  When I was a new mom, it made me feel more secure to compare myself to the someone who was "worse" than me, or if there wasn't anyone "worse," to imagine that there was.  Now I know that if I compare myself to someone I admire, I might actually be able to improve.

I used to think that I had to have a stance, set in stone, on every political issue, and that those opinions would define me.  Nope.  And even when I do have an opinion, I am fine keeping it to myself because I know that people close to me might disagree, and I am so not interested in arguing.

Besides all that, and this might be the crux of the whole thing, it's really hard to form an opinion on anything when kids are constantly talking to me about Daniel Tiger.  So go ahead, live your life!  I'm too distracted answering Tziporah's question about whether her shoes are on the right feet to decide whether you're right or wrong, so I'm going to let myself off the hook on passing judgment.

Then again, this is all just my opinion.