This is an article that needs to be written. I have been mulling it over in my head for a while
because there is way too much of it in our world. We may call it an opinion but it is still judgment. We call it just an observation but it is judgment. Whatever you call it or however you try and cover it up, it is judgment. All judgments come from an ego issue or fear of some kind any way you slice it. Judging someone or something makes us feel momentarily powerful and better than another.
We feel so righteous and glad that we are not that way. We pat ourselves on the back that we can so clearly see the situation or the person in the truth of our eyes. We are so glad that we are not the person we are judging and having their experience of awfulness.
There is no one who has ever not been judged. We have all lived with this in our life experience.
It is so easy to judge someone or something that we know almost nothing about. When we do this we are coming from a place of ignorance. How many times have you judged something only to find out later that you were absolutely wrong? It is a big ouch moment to find out that you can actually be wrong about something, misinformed or opinionated. If your judgments of others has caused pain and hindered the growth of someone else then it is time to seriously look at your life.
We can form attitudes towards others but are we coming from knowledge or just an opinion?
I would like to point out that the person we are hurting the most is ourselves.
I have been judged and it does cause pain and righteous indignation but only momentarily. There was a time in my life when it would have devastated me but no longer. I do not choose to live my life and honor my path according to the judgments of others. It is not my right to judge them for judging me either. They don’t know that they don’t know. Many times the judgments come from past experience and the past has nothing to do with the present. Living life clouded by the past is not going to empower your life. What is going on now in this moment? This is what matters.
If your father beat you, berated you and ruled with fear, it does not mean that everyone will be this way. This is past experience. It is time to write another story and another truth unclouded by the negative past.
I recently found out that a family member is judging me and this person has not been in my life for a long time and knows absolutely nothing about my path and purpose in life. They are judging me according to their present value system and according to the past we shared together.
They have arrived at a hard wired opinion of me that is not even close to the truth. They are very quick to point it out to others and want them to agree with their judgments of me. They think they know all about me. They claim to know what is in my heart and mind. They are maligning and insulting me at every turn. I have always held this person up in love. I wanted the very best that life had to offer for him. I was so very happy for his growth and accomplishments in life.
For some strange reason when I rose above the past of childhood and embraced a spiritual path,
he chose to slap me down verbally with other family members. It became all about him. It is true that he has always been materialistic and self absorbed but that is just him. I have always known that he was judgmental and a little cold but that is just him also. What he does not see is that in many ways he has become just like his father. I don’t think he will ever be aware of this.
His past has not always been pretty either. He made a lot of wrong choices and decisions also.
He is not a paragon of virtue. Because of the past and his version of it, he views his world in an unappetizing manner. In his eyes once you have done something wrong, you are always wrong.
What does this say about him? Is he perfect? I don’t think so. I have a lot of compassion for him.
I truly do.
I have made many wrong turns in life and made some uninformed choices. I was so unconscious spiritually and lived with a big time victim mentality. I did not take responsibility for my decisions because I had never learned how. It took some defining moments of a traumatic nature to move me in the direction of God. I now know myself and why I am here. I know what my purpose is. In the walk and the talk of my path as a spiritual teacher, public speaker, author, minister and life coach I have encountered so much negativity and heartache in people. The universal desire to rise above this is great.
When I knew that this is what I am here for, I asked God in meditation one day what my credentials were. The answer I was given is my life experience is the only credentials I need. This experience is not what I would want to wish upon another. It has been long and arduous.
That is when I knew a profound truth. How can anyone get across to another a different more spiritually powerful way to live unless they have known the darkness? In order to know the light you must first have experienced the darkness. In order for someone to be helped and guided by a spiritual teacher, the teacher should have known some adversity in the area they are talking about. I do not question my purpose any more. I am strong in my belief and my faith in myself and my God. I am in debt because of my chosen path. I have put my money where my beliefs are. I trust that what I need will come to sustain me.
If you are still judging others and following along with others opinions of situations and people, it is time to rise above this. It is hurtful and cruel. It is cowardly and full of ignorance. Come from a position of absolute knowledge but don’t judge. No one has walked in your shoes but you. No one has walked in my shoes but me. Stop hiding behind the curtain of judgment and remember you could be next. When you judge, you are putting yourself in the position of being superior to and better than another. How hard the mighty fall when they judge another. Just something to think about! www.makeachoicenow.com