Judge Much?

I had a judgement about someone the other day. It was one of the ones I often have falling into the “why can’t they/how did they not know?” category. My observation was how quickly I could climb up onto my high horse and begin to ride. The realization made me smile and begin to contemplate the condition.

When one prides oneself on not being overly judgmental and then looks at how often they are it is a bit surprising. Perhaps surprising is not the word, but rather edifying. It makes one stop, evaluate and then consider how to best mitigate the behavior.

This is the idea I have hit upon. I will allow the thoughts to flow through my mind. Then I will take a moment to think about what I know about the person in question. There is a chance I will re-evaluate my judgment, but if not, I must then look for behaviors or traits that they possess that I do not. The key to this portion of the exercise is that the things I identify must be positive in nature or something I admire and wish I could put out into the world.

We all live in the ivory towers of ourselves and our experiences. There appears to be a need to find others less than or not quite up to snuff, but those things are not necessarily something the other person values or desires. Who am I to judge them for their choices? Evidently “the arbiter of how to live” to which I have appointed myself.

None of us are going to stop. It is a part of human nature. Some are better at judging than others, but we all do it on some level. It leads to disappointment, superiority and often upset. To what end? If I am happy where I am, why can I not give others the same grace in their lives?

I think the best I can hope for is doing my judging in the privacy of my own head and trying not to have it fly out of my mouth. This is possible, but you all better be looking for the half smile on my face as those thoughts wander by. Just don’t judge me for that…or do!!