As a child, all of our friends liked the same things we did. That was probably the criteria for most our friends. You both loved pokemon and disliked x and y math problems. Friendships seemed simpler back then. Difference of opinions could be sorted out with a simple handshake, chocolate or just a smile. But as we grow, our personalities change or rather our personality begins to shape itself and this can lead to outgrowing your friends, and even your own likes and dislikes.
But once our personality is complete ( or seems so), we decide that people who don’t like the same things as us are not fit to be our friends. We tend to seek extremely like minded people so that daily conversation is easy and effortless. It seems like the best way to go. This is further amplified by social media where a single adverse comment or post can lead to unfriending or blocking without taking the effort to resolve it.
Some of the greatest friendships in politics and public life have been between completely opposite people. They both propagate completely contrasting ideals, participate in word wars and then go back to being friends standing up for each other at family events. People around them keep wondering how they manage to be friends and they put everything on the back burner and go on to do the real great things.
Don’t get me wrong! Its real nice to have friends who want to hangout at your favorite spot or do things that you love but we grow only in the face of adversity or challenge. Developing the ability to have mature conversations with people who have differing opinions is an adulthood goal everyone should achieve. No matter how infuriating or stupid someone’s opinions and ideologies can be, learn to converse, discuss, debate, leave the conversation and go back to being just friends. No opinion is bulletproof, they can change any minute and that includes your own opinions too!
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