I’m going to change my mind.

It will happen.

Because that is what sensible/reasonable people do when they are presented with knowledge. You reassess. You reconsider. Then, if it holds true, you change.

Change what you believe and support. You adjust your worldview. Whatever has to happen.

And it is okay, normal, natural, even necessary to do this. That is how we grow as individuals.

If I was exactly the same with the same beliefs and ideas I had when I was 16 years old, chances are I refused to let myself be challenged. Maybe out of fear, not knowing who I would be on the other side, or perhaps out of pride. Maybe I felt I was right, and everyone else was stupid.

I get the temptation to close my mental door on the world. Change is not easy.

To have my values repeatedly challenged requires a lot—to be grown up, to listen, to try and see things from a different perspective that I have no experience with. It can be hard.

But it is the right thing to do.

So I have tried to do it throughout my life. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not always successful at it. Truthfully, there are days when I don’t bother with understanding and jump straight to obstinate denial. I clutch my current opinions and values to me as if they are the last bottle of wine at an office party.

Truthfully, there are days when I don’t bother with understanding and jump straight to obstinate denial. I clutch my current opinions and values to me as if they are the last bottle of wine at an office party.… It appears my mind isn’t open and available 24-7.

What I believe now, I feel strongly about because I allowed—most of the time—those opinions and values to be tested and challenged. I’m confident in my values, not feeling the need to preach them to anyone, just willing to share because I know they work…for now…until I learn something more.

It is a slow, steady process of critical thinking, experience, and the desire to be better.

That said, I should probably admit that I stopped watching the news about four years ago, preferring to just read articles, and have consistently avoided reading my Twitter feed.

It appears my mental door and capacity for change aren’t open and available 24-7.