When choosing how to react to an ideal or lifestyle, there is a common misconception between supporting it and accepting it. Supporting a certain lifestyle or practice is standing behind it, not only agreeing with it, but putting in a valid effort to further its cause. Acceptance is different. Accepting an ideal is when you simply acknowledge the cause for what it is, without necessarily agreeing or disagreeing with it. They are both pretty interchangeable concepts, if you think about it, but something we have to understand is that support cannot come without acceptance, but acceptance can come without support. Something I believe every person must practice this day and age is acceptance.
As young people living in the world we live in, we seem to have the world at our fingertips, and because of this we are attacked every day with all the new social and cultural trends. Some may appeal to us, and others, maybe not. It is important to always come up with your own way of thinking about things, even if your thoughts toward something widely accepted in our society are negative. You are entitled to your own opinion simply because you are a human being, but refusing to acknowledge a widely accepted practice simply because your beliefs go against it is a behavior we need to learn to leave in the past. Simply accepting the cause, practice, lifestyle, or belief, even if you don't agree with it saves everyone much trouble.
It's perfectly fine to hold unpopular opinions, but if you are choosing to hold the unpopular opinion, you need to first accept that it is unpopular, and you will most likely get backlash for it, so you can't be bitter when it comes. But just because you don't agree with something, that doesn't mean you can't accept it for being a cultural norm. There will always be things that don't appeal to us personally, but appeal to others, and that is something that will never change. So, as educated young people living in 2016, we need to learn to not try and change something we don't personally agree with, and just accept it for what it is, because there is a line that is easily crossed when people take the unpopular opinion. Often what happens is a person not only states their opinion, but tries to take action against the ideal or cause that is accepted and supported by countless others, causing the one person grief and backlash from the ones who support.
So I think a good idea for us all is to make a vow to ourselves to always form our own opinions when it comes to the social and cultural norms of today, and to always hold steadfast to our own opinions. With that, to always remember to accept what we don't necessarily agree with, because there is always a group who will agree with it, and their opinions are just as valid as our own.
