Fine Line

You have a right to your opinion but you have no right to judge me. You have a right to your opinion but you have no right to judge me. You have a right to your opinion but you have no right to judge me. This has been my mantra at times when I have had to face a difficult situation. Sometimes with a single person, often when I have found myself in the midst of the unfriendly. Those, for better or worse, who have been more than willing to opine about me, though seldom to my face. So where is this fine line drawn? When someone speaks ill of you it really doesn't matter if the words are judgement or opinion. Negativity is negativity no matter what you call it. I suppose I'm left with the feeling that the definition resides in the heart and mind of the recipient of the opinion/judgement. This is a mantra of protection. A suit of emotional armor to wear in hostile social territory. You can only guess the spirit in which the words are offered, even if the words are unspoken and conveyed only in a facial expression or other physical gesture. Enter the mantra. You choose opinion. Because that's all they have a right to. Because someday they might know the whole story. Because the event inspiring the rise of bad blood might eventually be lost to the passage of time and the failure of memory. And because it leaves room for forgiveness.