When I started the behavior of not expressing my opinion two years ago as a first time student of the MKMMA, I found this practice extremely hard and rich at the same time.
Hard because I realized that a significant part of my conversations with everyone was packed with opinions, and rich because it gave me an instant solution on how to become a better listener (since I didn’t have much to say anymore, I realized that I could listen instead!)
After a few weeks, I had temporary lost the focus on preventing myself to express my opinion on all sorts of topics, but the initial effort had brought me a first invaluable effect: it is from that time on that I stopped expressing my judgements on others verbally.
I didn’t write that I stopped judging others, because that would not be the truth, my old blueprint still being busy to entertain such thoughts…automatically 🙂
However today, after a second year of practice of the “no opinion” rule, I realize that I am automatically interrupting most thoughts of judgement about any person or situation as soon as it comes through my mind, and this is SOOOOOOOO COOL!!
That being said, the total eradication of judgements and opinions from my thoughts is still a work in progress…but I feel confident that this is something I will eventually achieve, because I found tangible benefits for that behavior and its related state of mind…
Becoming a better observer of myself, being more open to other’s viewpoints, being a better listener, eliminating all types of opinions and judgements I had towards myself (I just discovered this one, very exciting!) are all positive side effects I received from this “no opinion” behavior.
This is why I had a great feeling mixed with excitement and peace of mind when I was reminded during the week 5 webcast that this was the “no opinion” week…
If you are discovering this powerful behavior (and game at the same time 🙂 as a first time MKMMA student, I’d love to have a comment from you…NOT your opinion of course, but rather your first personal experience with this amazing practice 🙂
[Wikipedia definition of “opinion” (excerpt): In general, an opinion is a judgment, viewpoint, or statement about matters commonly considered to be subjective (…) In casual use, the term opinion may be the result of a person’s perspective, understanding, particular feelings, beliefs, and desires. It may refer to unsubstantiated information, in contrast to knowledge and fact.]
All that being said, even facts look sometimes like opinions!
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