Ever since his childhood my oldest son's response to many questions was, "I don't mind."
"Darling, would you like to have chicken or hotdogs for dinner?"
"I don't mind"
"Where should we go today?"
"I don't mind"
It drove me nuts. I wanted him to make a choice, to state his opinion, but mostly for me, as a non-native English speaker "I don't mind" translated into "I don't care". I couldn't make my peace with it.
Interestingly enough, not long ago I read a book "It's All The Same To Me" by Moshe Gersht, which gave me a very different perspective to that phrase.
The author links it to the practice of dropping expectations and letting go of outcomes, along with the judging the outcomes as good or bad. He writes, "I don't mind means I don't put my ego, my mind, into what happen. My opinion of it doesn't matter...I don't mind means I don't judge."
What can I say, my older son was always wise beyond his years. I should have listened more carefully to what was behind his words.
Quoting J. Krishnamurti and my son as well :
"Would you like to know my secret? I don't mind what happens"
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