One Strong Belief Not Shared? I Think Not.

I've committed to participating in #Trust30, an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages you to look within and trust yourself. Each day you get a new message/task and can write about it in a journal, in a blog, on Twitter, even Facebook as long as you write something.

One Strong Belief by Buster Benson

It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. - Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

The world is powered by passionate people, powerful ideas, and fearless action. What’s one strong belief you possess that isn’t shared by your closest friends or family? What inspires this belief, and what have you done to actively live it?

(Author: Buster Benson)

I've given this thought all day and my response is probably not quite what was intended but here goes. I don't think you can have a belief that isn't shared by your closest friends or family and here's why.

When you're growing up, your biggest influences are your family members (at least for most of us) so you take your beliefs from them. For example, I grew up in a Catholic, Democratic home. So, I became a Catholic Democrat as a young adult. Many of my family members are still strongly Catholic although some, gasp, are Republicans.

However, as I met more people and had more life experiences, my beliefs changed. I'm no longer Catholic and I'm still a Democrat but lean very much towards a more Libertarian view. But, that's not to say that my beliefs aren't shared by others in my life even though they're not by my family.

Because, as your views change and you grow, you're naturally going to start surrounding yourself with people who believe as you do. You don't get to choose your family but you do get to choose your friends, your career and your community and you're going to choose the ones in sync with you.

For example, one of my best friends and I think so much alike about religion and politics that you'd be hard pressed to find a fundamental difference in our opinions. These are very different views than what my family holds. However, when you get to music and literature, he and I have some very different opinions. But, then I have other friends who agree that Country music is great and who like to read books about vampires.

I'm not Copernicus with a belief so outrageously far from the norm. I'm a not nearly as clever human who has gathered enough like people around me that I can always find someone to agree with me. Even when my opinion might be outside of "society's" norm.