Concepts and Theories.

There's a great possibility that deviation from the title may occur, but never mind, thoughts must roam free.

It struck me just now how other people's opinions shape our own. Did this thought originate from me, or did yours seep into my brain and give birth to a hybrid? Or did it mindlessly multiply and I just got a copy?

Opinions are hateful, necessary things. I, for one will own up that I am particularly susceptible to other people's. Pardon the analogy, but I feel like batches of wet clay, perpetually baked to permanence. I was born to conform. I was born to nod, to be ready with a quick smile and assure that everything's fine, to parrot. I was born to adopt your stand.

How I fought against this inherent weakness. How I fought to let my own opinions be natives and have the rule of the land. How I stilled myself from the reflex fortification of your statements. I too, have a conscience, a blunt blade I try to sharpen, guided by religion and past experiences. To relinquish, if you are true and right, would be just. But to say yes when it should have been a no! To smile when it should have been a frown! Therein lies the disgust I feel for myself.

I fail often, to shoulder my responsibility; the expression of my opinion. It need not be verbal. A look or smile is all it would have taken to communicate. How many honourable, needful words have I uttered? I forget, that as much as other people's opinions influence me, mine too have power over them. Many ugly things could I have checked, many beautiful thoughts could I have helped bloom.

We are connected by more than just species, nationality, ethnicity, or blood. This essence of self that I tried to explain, makes us extremely dependent on one another. So take care that what we say, advise or express are halal and good, lest we shape others wrongly. Because we do have that power. We do.