While many of us may never actually admit to it, as much as we don’t enjoy being judged ourselves, we too have judged others on more than one occasion and despite the overwhelming hypocrisy of it all, reckless judgement has almost become a natural human instinct.
Whether it is judgement based on appearance, personality, career paths, lifestyle choices, family matters, health aspects or even something as simple as those we choose to associate with, it seems that as a whole we no longer believe in the beauty of the benefit of the doubt.
It seems that somewhere along the way, instead of making a conscious choice to search for the good in others, we have chosen to use our narrow minded first impressions to place each and every person we meet into a tiny little box. A carelessly labeled box which more often than not, we never actually allow the accused to climb out of, simply because we are so sure that our judgements are correct. Despite of course, never actually having any true, tangible evidence to go by.
I think we can all agree that it takes but a single second to judge. Just one single second to judge a stranger crossing the road, based on nothing more than their appearance and their mannerisms and yet it takes that very same amount of time to instead, simply smile. One single second of replacing judgement and preconceptions with a mutual understanding of the path that life may have forced them to lead. A mutual appreciation for the simple fact that whatever the world has thrown at them, they have found the strength to face yet another day.
Judgement is a choice; a conscious choice which could easily be replaced with acceptance in an attempt to shape a beautiful, widespread change and yet instead, in a wonderfully developed world that is filled with such a vast array of people, we continue to remain ignorant to the facts. We continue to remain closed off to the magical ways of the world, choosing instead to completely ignore the notion that there are just some things in life that we may never fully understand.
At the end of the day, life is going to happen with or without our blessing and as far as each individual journey is concerned, there is no single one path in life for each and every one of us to venture towards. Each person not only has a different road to take, but a different lesson to learn; consequently altering their story in a way that is entirely different to ours and while we may often forget at times, every person we meet does indeed have their very own story. Every person we cross paths with has lived through a defining moment that nine times out of ten, has made them exactly who they are in this very moment and the simple fact that they have made it out the other side alive, is often a miracle in itself.
So perhaps the next time we have the innate desire to judge a person, we should instead stop and think. Stop to consider for a moment all of the endless obstacles that life may have carelessly thrown their way, prior to the very moment in which we are laying eyes on them and if we are lucky enough to be given the opportunity, perhaps we should allow them the chance to share that story.
Perhaps we should stop for a moment every now and again and instead of simply judging, choose to try and understand. Choose to appreciate the value of another human life, however different it may appear to ours. After all who knows, we may just learn something we otherwise would never have known. A lesson which may just change our very path in life and suddenly, we might find ourselves finally beginning to understand the intricacies of the world for quite possibly the very first time.
If not however, simply wait a moment or two. Eventually life happens to everyone, even the best of us and the way in which Karma chooses to work her magic is quite often in a way that we never could have expected.
My advice; be kind. Life is ironic to say the least.
