This week’s post is just a thought to ponder…..
In my opinion, it seems even with the opportunities for interaction via social media, we still choose to only expose ourselves to like- minded people. Let me give you an example: Facebook has allowed many of us to invest time in seeing what our “friends” are doing with their lives. Time stands still when you open your Facebook page and start browsing through your newsfeed. But it’s likely that the majority of the people you surround yourself with on Facebook are like-minded people. I know what you are thinking, ”That is not true.” But look at what happened during the recent presidential election. People started voicing their opinion and instead of friendly debates, I heard countless times,” I unfriended them. I did not want to hear their point of view anymore. “ And I am putting it nicely.
In Eleanor Roosevelt’s book, You Learn by Living, she states the following, “The narrower you make the circle of your friends, the narrower will be your experience of people and the narrower will your interests become. It is an important part of one’s personal choices to decide to widen the circle of one’s acquaintances whenever one can.”
What Eleanor said back in 1960 is just as relevant today as it was then, fifty seven years ago. If we live in a narrow minded state, we never allow the opportunity to learn new ways of thinking, living, or loving.
Take stock of your surroundings, your friends, acquaintances, even the people you listen to on TV or the radio. Are you allowing yourself to hear different opinions, or just the ones closest to yours?
