Letter J: Judgmental

It's funny that this topic is the one for my birthday... 
I believe all of us have a natural inclination to judge ourselves and others too harshly. 

"I can't believe I did that."
"I would never do that..."
"How could anyone think this way?!"
"If a friend talked to me the way I talk to me, they wouldn't be my friend anymore."
"Can you believe they stepped out the door like that?"
"Can you believe they stepped out the door at all?"
"I'm a horrible person and don't deserve to succeed or be happy."

All of these are complete shenanigans. But, it's not so easy to turn off not only judging yourself, but making those judgments about someone else. In it's own way, being judgmental just gives us another thing to be judgmental about! "I judged them, how could I?" And the spiral begins anew. It's also very natural. We decide what we are as a culture and the 'other' is weird and unnatural. If our own thoughts and feelings about ourselves qualify as 'other,' we judge ourselves.

Take some time today and put aside the judgment cap and love yourself and your neighbors (meaning everyone) for the gloriously flawed and amazing creatures we are. Loving is hard and takes just as much practice as any skill to do, and especially do well--it's more than just an emotion. Get a bit of practice in today.

Comments

Unknown said…
Couldn't agree more-- if you're judging someone you're either thinking they're better than you, or you're better than them. Neither is good.
6:13 AM
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