It's okay to be opinionated.

IF you have good research and listening skills, know how to express your arguments tactfully, succinctly, and elegantly, and know when to keep your peace.

Having research skills, and putting them to use, reinforces your opinions with (at least some) facts.

Listening skills helps you to make sense of what other people are saying and not saying.

Being able to express your arguments well not only keeps you from turning your argument into an unnecessarily long rant, it also helps others keep track of what you're saying.

You may even convince a few.

Finally, knowing when to yield ground, when not to belabour dead ends, and when to just let things slide, keeps you from becoming too uptight, and keeps your relationships intact.

Please don't become that contrary, obnoxious person who butts into everyone's conversations and doesn't know when to shut up or concede.

Sometimes, keeping it light is the smarter way to go.

But hey, that's just my opinion.