Sometimes you will encounter people who don't take you seriously. When that happens, you have a few choices:
- You can agree with them and discount your opinion, feelings, fears, or ideas. In other words, you can also not take yourself seriously.
- You can consider their comments, and if you feel those comments are valid, you can revise or modify your stance.
- You could stick to your stance and ignore their comments and/or disagreement.
- You can try to reason with them so they see the situation from your perspective.
It's difficult to stick to your stance when others disagree with you, and it's almost impossible not to consider their disagreement. In the end, however, you have to live with yourself and with that in mind, you have to make up your mind about what you believe in and what you will do. Before making up your mind, it's good to think of the "front page news" announcement of your stance as well as how your stance may play out in days, months, and years ahead.
Recently I took an unpopular stance in a situation I shared with many. Few to none took my concerns seriously, but after a great deal of consideration, my concerns remained worrisome and troubling. I had to protect myself in this situation even thought others thought me foolish or worse.
Will I regret this decision? I don't think so because I had to choose on the side of safety--physical safety and emotional safety. I also had too much to lose if I simply went along with the popular opinion related to the situation.
Will I regret this decision ten years from now. I don't think so. Even though the decision will alter the future path for me, I think the path would have been altered in this way anyways given the fact that those that disagree with me about this situation will likely disagree with me about future, related situations. Our philosophies on many topics differ considerably.
It's hard to know exactly what to do in many of life's situations, but we have to make our best decisions given what we know, our values, our safety, and the future we desire for ourselves and others. Onward.
