Everyone likes to say they're open-minded, but we all know someone who refuses to see the other side of the coin.

I might be one of the first to admit that I'm an incredibly opinionated person. I make my decisions relatively quickly and often stick to them for a very long time. It's something I'm proud of because I don't waste my time, but also something I've been working on with myself because it can actually be quite toxic at times.

Now, I'm not saying that if you're an opinionated person that you're toxic or that you as an individual are close-minded, however, if you are an opinionated person I would like you to think of this more as a reminder.

(Note: If you're taking offense, or if you've decided that you don't need this reminder, then surprise! You probably do.)

Our collective society receives so much information on a second-to-second basis through social media. Therefore, it's plausible to think that we have become so divided as a society, and so decisive as individuals because we need to sort through that information quickly in order to keep up with it and because we have a desire to know what's going on around us at all times.

But this can become detrimental to our thought patterns because then we could fail to actually understand what's going on, we end up making our decisions based off of what other people think because we want to fit in with the crowd, or because we want to be "edgy and different."

A reminder you are unique because of the fact that you perceive all of this information differently than everyone else. However, instead of voicing your opinion right away, maybe take a moment to look into how something could be perceived differently. Put yourself in someone else's shoes, challenge yourself to think differently. Talk to someone who views it differently and most importantly:

Listen to understand, not to retort.