“Opinions are like booty-holes, everyone has one.” I’ve heard that more than once and have always agreed with it; but what if we each have more than one opinion (not booty-holes); more than one way of looking at a subject? And they are all valid?

I have been working on an art project and occasionally I break out from it and draw other things just for fun. My friend was throwing out ideas as to what I should draw. She said I should draw a woman with a beehive hairdo. This is what I came up with in the moment. She hadn’t given me any direction other than beehive. What my mind did with that information completely interested me and made me think about how within the same person there can be such different ways of doing something; different thoughts, different expressions, different opinions, and different perspectives.

As a mother, a wife, a friend, a woman, a runner, a yoga teacher, a nurse, I have so many opportunities to form opinions. It’s just recently that I have noticed that I am introducing more gray into my black and white thinking. I have always been one to be very definite about what I think on a subject. Right/Wrong. Yes/No. Black/White. No wiggle room, no swaying, no gray.

I’m not sure if it is the political climate we Americans find ourselves in or if it’s personal circumstances, but I find myself forming opinions from the space of love. I may not like or even agree with something someone is doing but I love them and so I can look at an issue from their perspective before forming my opinion about it.

When I look through the lens of love I can have grace and compassion. My opinion can be that I don’t like something AND that I don’t need to change it or have it changed.

For example: running isn’t easy AND it is simple. My love/hate relationship with running is a perfect example of having multiple opinions on a subject. My internal motivation is sometimes non-existent. I struggle to get out there and do the thing because it is hard to run 10 miles. And yet it is simple. It is just moving my arms and legs and breathing. And, once I do the thing I love how I feel: endorphin high, pride in an accomplishment and my butt looks better. Love/Hate.

Nursing can be that way. Love/Hate for the job; for the organization; for the patients; for the skills. It isn’t easy to be a nurse, the hours are long, the pay is low, the appreciation is nonexistent; and yet it is simple. It is using our education, hand/eye coordination and loving on people. This is a huge area where not agreeing with the patient/organization/etc, but acting out of love, can make all the difference in the world.

You can have more than one opinion on a subject, it’s OK. You can come at things from a different perspective daily, minute by minute and different from those around you. And that’s OK too.

If no harm is done in the gray, then go for the muddy. As long as we serve each other from a place of love it doesn’t really matter what our opinions are as long as we respect and are kind. May this play out in real life and not just on my drawing pad.