{"id":4532,"date":"2021-08-30T16:38:21","date_gmt":"2021-08-30T21:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/?p=4532"},"modified":"2021-08-30T16:38:23","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T21:38:23","slug":"i-want-to-be-the-minority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/i-want-to-be-the-minority\/","title":{"rendered":"I Want To Be The Minority"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We listened to a lot of Green Day when my sons were in high\nschool. The song Minority was always in the mix. I think about that song off\nand on. I\u2019m not sure I WANT to be the minority, but I often feel like I am. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I used to think I was just a contrarian. Now, I don\u2019t think\nthat\u2019s really a fair assessment even though it\u2019s not unusual for me to see\nthings differently from most of the people with whom I interact. Lots of days\nfeel like opposite day in my world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On car rides, my dad liked to choose a current event and ask\nmy opinion about it. Whatever I said, he\u2019d express the opposite opinion and we\u2019d\ndiscuss at length. It was immaterial whether I agreed with what I was saying.\nWhat was important was that I be able to think through an issue thoroughly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That became my habit. Look at something. Explore. Look at it\nfrom the other side. Explore. Come up with arguments that support each point of\nview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not always sure where I\u2019ll land on an issue, but I routinely\nhave an opportunity to see things from a different perspective before I figure that\nout. I love it that this became an ingrained habit. I also feel like a sore\nthumb sometimes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

We are all unique and even if you are more mainstream than\nI, there will be times you feel different, misunderstood or like your opinion\nis not valued. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can you feel good when that happens?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There may be no avoiding feelings of frustration,\nirritation, annoyance, or anger in the moment. Sometimes, you may momentarily\nfeel less than. However you feel is okay. The key is for those feelings to move\nthrough without affecting how you view yourself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few things you can do to help:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set boundaries<\/strong> \u2013 There are times you may want to avoid sharing what you think or feel. You\u2019re under no obligation to share if doing so will harm you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recognize the power of your voice<\/strong> \u2013 When you\u2019re standing alone, it\u2019s easy to feel overwhelmed by opposing voices. This can make you feel torn between staying silent and offering your view. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth is, you are not as alone as you believe. You may be\nthe only person in a particular room who sees what you see, but there will be\nmany more in other rooms whose voice may not be heard unless you speak up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understand the value of your opinion <\/strong>\u2013 When others in a discussion have a greater volume of wealth, education, status, position, or force, it\u2019s easy to tell yourself their thoughts matter more than yours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interesting thing is that those things may, in fact,\nlimit their knowledge in some areas. That is where you can fill in the gaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And even when there is no gap, you may have a take on a\nsituation no one else has considered. If you don\u2019t speak out, no one will\nbenefit from what you have to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bounce ideas off someone else<\/strong> \u2013 Call a friend whose opinion you respect and give your ideas a test run. Sometimes just saying something out loud helps cement your passion for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forgive yourself<\/strong> \u2013 If you end up feeling like you\u2019ve spoken when you shouldn\u2019t or held back when you should have spoken, forgive yourself. Decide whether you will revisit the issue or let it go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You cannot undo what\u2019s been done. You\u2019ll gain nothing from beating yourself up. That same energy can be redirected to exploring what you learned, how you hope to handle things in the future, or practicing gratitude for the opportunity to make a choice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have no doubt that I\u2019ll soon be back in a situation in which I want to be the minority. I\u2019m thinking that\u2019s a good thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/hbr.org\/2019\/03\/how-to-speak-up-when-it-matters<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We listened to a lot of Green Day when my sons were in high school. The song Minority was always in the mix. I think about that song off and on. I\u2019m not sure I WANT to be the minority, but I often feel like I am. I used to think I was just a … Continue reading “I Want To Be The Minority”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,13],"tags":[3083,2583,3085,3084],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4532"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4532"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4541,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4532\/revisions\/4541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}