In My Opinion…

My family often complain that I’m rather opinionated. To which I usually reply with a retort that goes something along these lines…

‘Everyone is entitled to an opinion… but, you may only express it once you’ve earned the right to open your mouth in the company of others.’

I believe I have earned the right to express my opinion on many of life’s trivialities… and maybe even on some of the deeper truths. How does one earn that right? Through trial and error… through experience… through living life, not through reading about how others live their lives. Not through following the feeble, fickle so-called role models so easily elevated to guru status these days.

Live life hands on! Experience comes with action… action means getting off one’s butt and doing something. Anything. Sorry, not clutching a mobile electronic device… that counts for nothing!

Something else I’m often heard to be saying… especially when I’m asked if I watched this film or that comedy show…

‘No… sorry, I don’t do movies… I don’t live other people’s fantasies… I create my own!’

Well, at least I try. Rather opinionated, you may say. You may just be right… but then, maybe I’ve earned the right. You see… there I go again.

What brought on this bout of introspection…you may ask? I don’t really know… but I have to confess to getting some of the inspiration from a blog I follow at a distance… it so happens to be called ‘In My Opinion’. I don’t read it often enough to profess to know or agree with the opinions expressed there. What I do admire is the writer’s drive to do a post a day for a year… well, I think that’s one of the aims. Something I can sympathise with.

But… there may be another underlying reason for expressing my opinions. No… not to cause arguments… maybe just get a debate going. The good lady mentioned something about folks being all talk but little action. At the time we were chatting about my soon to be restarted Grand Canal Walk. As mentioned a few week’s ago… I’m doing the whole walk as a challenge to raise awareness and possibly a few pennies for the Midlands SIMON.

I’ll be out somewhere along the first section of the canal today. I’ll be hoping to gather support as the walk progresses further west. At this point we have agreed on the contents of the fliers to be distributed but the Dublin SIMON have requested that we respect their patch, so we’ll only start the distribution of our fliers once we cross the Kildare Offaly border.

As things stand at this point in time I’m of the opinion that The Royal Canal is a prettier and more rewarding walk than the Grand Canal walk. But… you’ll be correct in saying I have no right to express my opinion… well, not until I reach the end of the walk… then only will I have earned the right to express that opinion…

Ces’t la Vie 😉

The top photo – the not so ‘grand’ beginnings of the canal, where the sea-locks meet the Liffey. That blueish building on the right skyline is where I’m based, work-wise, that is…

Bottom photo – the summer view of the first lock on the Circular Line… the ‘real’ beginning of the canal…