Judgement

Finding the Middle

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Most things that happen in life are not good or bad; they are good and bad. Where do you put your attention? Do you have enough awareness to see them both? Do you only see the bad, which leaves you anxious, angry or depressed? On the other hand, do you focus only on the good, convincing yourself that nothing is wrong? Seeing life either way will only lead to suffering and the continued loss of our humanity.

Remember life is not about getting, it is about giving. Too many have forgotten this, and have fallen into a trance. Their focus is too narrow, and they can only see the good or the bad. This forgetfulness creates a more significant disparity between those who have and those who don’t, leaving our world in war, hunger, poverty, and turmoil.

We must awaken from our trance, or we will continue to spiral down. Our lost humanity will not just be something we gasp at in the news; it will become so regular that we will grow numb to our inhumanity.  This has already begun to happen in the name of peace and safety. Can you see it?

Will we find a way to wake up or will we continue down our current path? Each one of us must ask this question of ourselves. We must be willing to take an honest look at our beliefs and perceptions so that we can uncover the truth. Otherwise, we will continue to parrot our conditioned views and judgments out into the world, and that will only strengthen what we most dislike about it.

When we can stay in the middle, a balanced life is lived, and happiness becomes the norm. We learn to appreciate the good and have the strength to take action to improve the bad. Can we find the middle or will we continue to fight for what we think is ours and ours alone?

Do the Right Thing

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Remember no two snowflakes are alike. This is true for human beings as well. It is easy to see the beauty in snowflakes, how about looking for the beauty of each person you see today and the common thread that binds us all together. It is always there, you only have to look with an open heart. Instead, we choose to judge without knowing and to hate without understanding. It is living in this way without ever questioning our thoughts or beliefs that we perpetuate the suffering in this world and its destruction. To think that we do not have to take care of each other no matter who we are, what we believe or where we are from and this planet is a recipe for disaster and one that will ultimately destroy us all. I am not speaking metaphorically, I mean literally.

Seeing the Actions of Others Differently

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Why is it as adults we have no patience, endurance, steadfastness or love for other adults when they take actions or say things that we do not like? Yet usually, we can find these qualities for children when they are being difficult in abundance. Why does every action by an adult have to be perceived as they should know better or they should not act that way? If they knew better, wouldn’t they do better? Perhaps we need to see them as the child and treat them with some understanding. If we did, maybe our world would be a little better for it.

Fixed Ideas

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We have fixed ideas about people. We see them through a singular lens and miss the totality of who they really are in this life. Remember the next time you have a particular negative thought about someone to ask yourself, have I had this thought more than once. It may even be about a group of people. For instance, a Muslim, LGBTQ person, a liberal, conservative, or anyone who believes differently than you, if you have, then maybe you have created a fixed idea about that person or group.

When we look at people in this way, it limits the world and our lives. Therefore, before you think a person is this or that way, maybe you should look to see if they are more than what you have allowed yourselves to see. Maybe you should get to know them, before judging them.

Has anyone ever looked at you this way and only seen what they wanted to see? Have you ever had that feeling? It could be a stranger or it might be a parent or friend. Maybe it was because of your job, religion, sexual orientation, your hair, a tattoo. It could be anything that causes someone to think they know who you are and helped them to create this fixed idea of you.

Have you ever assumed you know someone’s beliefs because of his or her political party or religion? Did you take the time to get to know them? Could someone know you just by your political party or religion? Could someone know you for years but not really see you completely? Have you ever felt this way, that you are more than just how people see you?

If you know that you are more than how other people see you, then is it possible that whoever you are looking at with disdain is also more. I can tell you that if you cannot find a way to see the “more” in people then your disdain will keep your life small, fill it with pain, fear and heartache.

There is one thing I can tell you for sure and that is that you are more and they are more. So consider your thoughts when they repeatedly play the same negative message about another person or group. Take the next step and get to know the person or someone from the group. Do not let someone else make up your mind for you, find out for yourself. You may find that you have more in common than your differences.

False Perceptions and Beliefs

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The way you are feeling is not the fault of what someone has done to you, but your perception of his or her actions, you must recognize that the problem is not out there. Once you do, then the real work begins uncovering the false perceptions and beliefs that led you to feeling hurt. When you let this go, then you can see the truth. You will see the pain and suffering that caused the other to act out. You will recognize your own role in this story and then you can rewrite it. With experience, we find that it is not what happens to us in life, but how we respond to it that dictates how much our life is filled with pain or joy.

Judgement

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Your self- judgment will not heal you or change your life for the better. Judgment of another person does not change them or solve your problems; it roots them more deeply into our collective psyche.

The only permanent solution is inner work, for it is here that healing occurs on all levels. What we are able to uncover and release within ourselves ultimately is what changes and heals the world.

It has already been proven that a million-man march, war and other external solutions do not work. Only the final call for inner knowing has this power to heal. I know you feel this inner calling, so begin to answer it today, because your resistance will only cause you to suffer.

Short and Sweet #167 – How Do You Look At Life?

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It is through changing our point of view about life that we begin to make spiritual progress. If we are continually judging others and our circumstances, we will not progress. We must realize that we have to be concerned with our own outlook on life, not with what someone else thinks. If we feel the need to judge, then Continue reading →

Short and Sweet #25 – Judgement

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I mentioned judgment as an example for the practice shared yesterday and it has stuck with me. We live in a world full of judgment and although I cannot change this outwardly, I can and do take action inwardly every day. Recognizing that judgment is not just looking at someone and thinking for example that he or she is overweight, but it can also been seen as he or she is attractive. I think that too often we only think of judgment as a negative view, when in fact it can be something we might perceive as a positive acknowledgement. You can tell the difference by the intent behind the so-called acknowledgement. OK a little rigorous honesty here, judgment is a big thing for me and when I started doing The Practice see #24 it revealed to me just how much I was judging. I find the gym one place where I get to practice The Practice by judging how people look or how they are working out. I then realized that even noticing attractive women at the gym was a judgment on my part. Meaning the intent was more sexual, yes I said that, sorry but let’s be honest a lot of us do that when we see an attractive man or woman. Therefore, I am getting plenty of practice around all kinds of judgment at the gym. The first action is to become aware that you are judging because a lot of this happens silently out of your conscious awareness. Start with admitting that occasionally you judge someone or something. Make an unbending intention that you want to change the behavior. Begin doing The Practice in #24 consistently throughout your day. If we really want to rid the world of judgment, we must rid our inner world of judgment first. As we shift the energy inside us, we raise our vibration and this in turn begins to change the world through the energetic matrix. Even if you think, I am full of it with the vibration and energetic stuff that should still not stop you from changing yourself. Everything else will take care of itself anyway, it always does. Oh and yes you can apply this to any behavior you want to change so please do not stop with judgment on my account. 😉