Changing own mind
“Only the dead and stupid never change opinion”
James Russell Lowell
There is a big misunderstanding in today’s society compared to the theme of the change of ideas. A misunderstanding that tends to frame this event, change an idea or an opinion perhaps on important aspects of life (political, moral, ethics, relationships, work, friendships etc), as something negative. We change your mind and immediately you have the feeling, that at any moment, someone will get up from the top of their pulpit to contest this change, thicking it with unrecognition, short memory, unfair or poor consistency.
But it is, as said, in my opinion, a big misunderstanding. In fact, a single meter cannot exist to judge these changes. It is clear, for example, that if a politician who until yesterday has declared himself a means that Guevara from tomorrow praises Mussolini, well, then there more than a change of idea there is some new convenience that I led to such a big change. And therefore there is that the poor consistency is contested.
But, I repeat, that’s not always the case. At least in normal lives, those of us ordinary mortals, changing idea is something absolutely normal, as well as a real right to which no one should give up why, in some way, threatened by the judgment of our network of relationships. In short, if we have always thought of it in one way, and the whole world that surrounds us knows that we thought so, and then at some point we changed her mind … well, who cares if the world will not accept this change , however important it may be. Which judge in fact can stand as censorship of a change of opinions accrued within ourselves perhaps in the light of changes that before us have materialized around us.
The changes
The changes, whether we want them or not, are in all the facets of existence, and why should they not be in what we think? Moreover, to change his mind, as well as a sacrosanct right, which I put on a par for expressing one’s ideas, is also a sign of courage. In fact, think how many times it would be convenient to continue to pretend to always think in the same way only in order not to risk incurring the judgment of others. But not only: changing idea is a courageous act because it takes a lot of courage to put aside their beliefs, those who maybe accompanied us for years, and saying … cabbage, I was wrong! How many are really able to do a similar exercise? And how many do they prefer to continue making fun of themselves themselves by pretending or self -coutining themselves to believe in principles in which, below, they no longer believe?
Changing your mind is a right. Changing your mind is courageous. But changing your mind is also an incredible sign of life. In fact, every great change of convictions correspond to changes also in our actions, in our habits, in the organization of our existence. At each crossroads in which we change path, we enrich our life like a tree to which a new branch emerges from which, tomorrow, new leaves and new fruits will be born.
Things change, the factors on which our assessments are based change with them. And it is therefore normal that, at the end of the fair, even our opinions (which start from the aforementioned assessments) on what happens to us, on the people around us, can change.
And where the change of opinion does not happen for mere laziness or convenience, well, in those cases, the change of opinion should not be castrated, judged, but on the contrary it should be encouraged and rewarded.
Read the world
We cannot, throughout our life, to read the world that surrounds us with the same keys and see it with the same lenses as ever. Just as in 2022 we would not wear a dress we wore in the early 80s. And then think about it. As long as there are changes in idea, it will mean that the world itself can enrich itself with new ideas. And a world without new ideas is a world that is destined to die without even realizing it, at least as long as there will be someone who, with greater courage than the rest, will change his mind.
