I'm okay, you're a little twisted... but that's okay.

I have opinions. Yup. Lots of 'em. Example: There's a right way to fold a towel, and many wrong ways to do it. I think my David has explored most of the wrong ways before discovering that my way is the best way. Not because he did the research and found out that the way I do it works the best. O no. He's figured out that the amount of grief he gets from me if he doesn't do it 'the right way' is just not worth the fight. Don't get me wrong here... he is still sloppy about it, but the folds are 'correct.' You may think the whole thing is silly, but it matters to me. I don't know why, exactly, but it does.

See, that's the thing about opinions. They are highly personal. Though the reasoning behind them may (or may not) be sound, we can be inexplicably and stubbornly devoted to them. An opinion is different from an idea. You can easily change your ideas about something, but an opinion is much harder to change - evidence to the contrary be damned. Ideas are about thought, opinions are about decisions. When we have an opinion, we've decided what we think - and decisions have an air of finality about them. You've made up your mind and that's that.

This, of course, can lead to statements like "you're being irrational," or worse - especially if the other person has also formed an opinion, and that opinion radically differs from your own. The discussion can spiral out of control, becoming the opposite of a discussion: an argument. Let's face it, an argument is not a discussion. A discussion is the sharing of information, the exchange of ideas. An argument is a contest, and both of you are trying to win. Nobody ever wins a discussion. Arguments are about domination. Discussions are about tolerance.

Tolerance is not about agreeing. You can tolerate something without agreeing with it. In fact, tolerance is like 'agreeing to disagree'. It's about understanding the concept of self-determination and individuality. You don't have to change who you are to tolerate someone else. You do your thing, and you let them do theirs. Their differences are about them, not about you. You've got enough to worry about. Trust me.

When you commit to tolerance, it can be very freeing. It has a tendency to jog you out of 'tunnel vision' and allow you to see things you might not have noticed before. Like how you are similar. You might learn something once you stop focusing on what you view as the negative, and take in the whole. If there was more tolerance, we might live in a safer and more joyful world. Less shouting and more laughter. Less isolation and more community.

I think we need more tolerance in the world. But that's just my opinion.