We all have the right to like/dislike things and people in our lives. We have the right to choose the kind of clothes to wear, food to eat, music to listen to. We have the right to choose the kind of entertainment that amuses us. We have the right to our spiritual inclinations. Our choices may differ from the choices of people around us and it should not matter.
Often I have seen people question our choices and we go to great lengths to defend our choices. Why should we have to defend our preferences? Why should we have to explain to others why we like/dislike something in our life? As long as our choices are not affecting anyone else in any major way, why should we justify our choices?
Imagine someone asks the question, “Why don’t you drink alcohol?” Those who don’t drink go about defending their choice giving various reasons. Then the other person starts an argument over those reasons trying to convince you that your reasons are not valid.
Hot button questions on politics, religion, food choices (Veg/Non-veg?vegan), Dress sense, can easily be diverted with a simple, “I prefer…” sentence rather than giving elaborate reasons. We may have good reasons for our choices, but we don’t have to defend our choices. Defending a choice almost makes you feel you have done something wrong and have to feel guilty for it.
In an office situation where it concerns office matters, we may need to justify our choices but in our personal lives, we should stop explaining our choices and the simple sentence of, “I prefer…” should be good enough for most situations. Our preferences could come from our natural inclination or we may have reasoned it out. Either way, we have the right to preferences.
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