I only buy Runtz for the banana Runtz in the box, if we’re being completely honest. I’ve often bought a box, and asked a friend or two if they would like to partake in the fruit-flavored hard candy. Whenever I offer them, I always instruct my friends to leave the bananas for me, and for some reason this isn’t a hard task. It’s been my experience that people don’t like banana Runtz, and for whatever reason, they always feel the need to tell me how much they suck whenever I ask to have them. But no matter how many people tell me those banana-flavored slices of heaven aren’t good, I’ve never accepted it to be true.

Why am I talking about a miniscule candy that most likely only half of the readers who choose to read this article know about? Because the “banana Runtz effect” is applicable to more than just my favorite candy.

People will ask me what my favorite band is, and I’ll undoubtedly say some underground indie musician, and will immediately meet sighs of annoyance for not accepting modern day music as my favorite. People will ask me what my favorite movie is, and whenever I tell them it’s something of a realistic historical fiction film, their inability to relate forces them in disdain to disagree with such a taste. People will ask me what my favorite class is, and I will run into anger when I mention the hardest one offered in my major.

I’m not sure why I am so often met with disagreement, nor do I understand why people get angry with me over it. However, I know for a fact I will never stop loving the way banana Runtz taste, or the way my favorite folk band harmonizes, or the beauty of cinematography my favorite movie offers, or the thrill of the challenge my favorite class gives me. Because my love for something is not swayed by other’s opinions of it. And I firmly believe that is what true love is.

So I ask you, what are your banana Runtz? What are the things in life that you won’t let others’ opinions challenge your love for them? What are your favorite memories that won’t be touched by someone’s regret? What are your favorite places that you won’t expose someone’s negativity to in order to cherish them? Who are your favorite authors that you will protect from a sour taste of another’s thoughts?

Don’t let someone’s opinions affect how you live your life. Don’t let the “banana Runtz effect” occur to your utmost favorites. Let your favorite things in life be unique. Let them create who you are, untouched by the nasty thoughts of someone who can’t see the beauty you notice.