Opinions in Action

Nothing is more conducive to peace of mind than not having any opinion at all. -- Georg Lichtenberg
Boy, do I have opinions. And I like to talk to other people that have opinions. I want to know what people are thinking and then I want to talk about it. Sometimes it's fun to be with people that share my opinions and then we can get all red-neck and rowdy.
But I also like to be with people that don't share my opinion so I can see if I really believe my opinions. Or do they fall to another's reasoning? Of course in those situations you have to be with people that will listen to you and who are testing their opinions also. I want to challenge and be challenged and then everyone laugh and move on - exhilarated and stretched.
I love to talk about those taboo subjects of politics and religion. You just never know when you just might learn something. I remember one time when a belief I held was challenged, stretched, pushed and over a period of time - changed. During that time I said to God, "Okay, enough. I don't want to be enlightened anymore." Other times my beliefs have come out stronger from the testing, and the enlightenment was confirmation.
My time as editor for the weekly newspaper in Peotone, Illinois led to me publishing my opinion. Of course I got to call it an "editorial". When we moved to Marietta I used to sit in the stands at the baseball fields and get giddy saying under my breath, "No one here knows me. No one here knows my opinons!"
Gave me a new appreciation for politicians. They do not get to have private opinions. They are the folks that have opinions and state them, vote on them, make them into laws.
Based on my experience, I believe it takes a lot of guts to be a politician and I truly believe it is a noble calling with more responsibility than most of us can imagine.
Here in Georgia we have an election on July 22 – how cool to put my opinions into action.