Dare to Think for Yourself

I thought last nights Boston Public was great. I always look forward to watching that show because it’s one of the few shows left on Fox that’s actually good and not just funny (if you can even call most of the shows on fox funny, but that’s another entry). What I liked about last nights show was the fact that people’s were dared to think differently.

For those that don’t watch Boston Public I’ll have to paint a picture. Marla is a rather loud, outspoken, woman who was approached by a “little person” played by Verne Troyer (mini-me from Austin Powers). This little person was challenging the schools standardized test and helping kids in Marla’s class cheat on the tests, which is how Marla met him. At the end of last weeks show the little person asked Marla on a date which is where it all began. He tried to challenge Marla’s perception and pushed her to think for herself instead of making her decision as to whether or not to date him based on “what other people might think”. He told Marla that if she was to let other people make her decisions, if she cared more about what other people thought than what she felt in her heart then he felt sorry for her. In the end Marla couldn’t go through with it and she broke up with a man that she thoroughly enjoyed being with because of what other people thought and the fact that she didn’t want to walk down the street and be stared at.

This is exactly it, all of us believe in something. Everyone has an opinion and I’m with the little person. If you’re going to let other people’s opinions stop you from following your heart, sticking to your beliefs and speaking out about what you believe in then you are to be felt sorry for. This is something I’ve struggled with for a long time. I’ve never fit in and I’ve always wanted nothing more than to fit in, but to do so I would have to go against what I believe is right and I don’t want to do that. For a long time I shut my mouth, holding myself back, not being heard for fear of someone attacking my opinion and outcasting me but you know what, I don’t really care what anyone else thinks. We all have a right to our opinions and that’s that. If others are too closed minded to at least try to see the other side then that’s too bad for them.

As far as religion goes I’ve been on both sides of the fence. I’ve been a hard-core believer, I’ve told athiests they were on their way to hell. It was only when I was challenged that I started to realize that I might be wrong, that maybe there was validity to other ideas. When I stopped making my decisions based on emotions and what I’d been told my entire life my view changed. When I was forced to go out and form a truly educated opinion I learned that others had reasons for their beliefs and I learned to respect them even though, at the time I didn’t necessarily agree. Eventually my whole perception of religion changed and I formed the opinions I hold today.

It is the people in this world that are different that make changes and discoveries. People who stick their neck out and dare to be different are the one’s that come up with great ideas and great inventions. Don’t let other people decide who you are. We should all be allowed to feel this world out and decide who we are and what’s right for us. The fact that we have this right is what makes this world a beautiful place. It is when we lose sight of this freedom that we stagnate and stop evolving.