If you look at the millennial generation, you will see that we are the generation of change. We were the ones to elect the first black president and now, we may be the first ones to have a female democratic candidate. We were the ones to support gay rights when no one else did. We seem to be the ones of acceptance, openness, and movement. So why are we also the ones to feel so entitled?
I know you're probably thinking "entitlement" in the "we want it and we want it right now" sort of way. While that may be true, I'm talking about opinions. The more we're open to them and the more we talk about them, the more people feel entitled to shut them down. You, as a citizen of the United States, are entitled to whatever opinion you choose. Whether it be educated or not, whether it be different than others or not, whether it be absolutely unheard of. So why are we also the first people to tell someone that their opinion is incorrect?
I live in a house with 8 women. I'm in an organization of 130 women. While that already brings a lot of trials and tribulations in itself, on a daily basis I hear about someone's opinion being wrong. They don't know anything about this or they don't have enough experience with that. We've all been guilty of accusing others of that from time to time.
Difference in opinion is good. It truly is. It widens our thinking and causes us to look at things from another view. So why isn't it enough to say "I respect you, I respect our differences, but I simply feel another way on the matter"? If people learned to handle things in this way, we'd be a lot better off.
Passion. Passion is the issue. We get so absorbed into our beliefs, that we get so fired up about them and begin to think in black and white. Unfortunately, life is a messy mixture of shades of grey (no pun intended).
Maybe consider this the next time you feel the urge to blow over someone's opinion or tear it down. You may never understand what's caused someone to think in that certain way, but at the very least, you can always respect it.
