Have you noticed how little room is left for us to form our own opinions? From all sides, we are bombarded with information that is already labeled, already interpreted. Have you ever thought about how much this limits our freedom, our ability to make independent choices, and to chart our own path?
We hear that the weather is bad and that driving conditions are poor, and we immediately start to worry or even feel afraid. Yet, this is not yet our own experience. We don’t yet know if these conditions are bad for us. Maybe, given our skills and capabilities, they are actually quite good? We hear that a movie is good—so we go and spend two hours fidgeting in our seats. Or that a book is bad—so we don’t pick it up and miss out on something important that the previous reader overlooked… and so on, and so on.
The worst part is that this susceptibility to others’ opinions and the reluctance to gain our own experiences can lead us to failure and even harm ourselves. Those who have pushed through and come to Zbyszek despite everything sometimes admit:
“They said you were unapproachable, but it turns out you’re so kind and direct…”
“They said it was impossible to get through to you or reach you by phone, but I tried, and the very next day I was at your place…”
They say… and that’s enough for us. We already have our own formed opinion. See for yourselves how illogical this is. Remember—what matters are the facts, not someone else’s interpretation of them.
(Świat to Apteka No. 24/25 – February/March 2011)