Judgement

I am often reminded that we know so little about people around us.  We see someone with a perfect figure, a lot of money, big house, and a great looking husband and we envy them.  Sometimes we are critical of them or we judge them negatively without ever knowing what is going on in their lives.  I would like to think that I am not that way but it is so easy to fall into thinking or saying unkind things about others. 

I remember a man I met many years ago who had a weight problem.  He said he was running through a park and some kids started throwing doughnuts at him and calling him names.  The man had just lost 80 lbs. but was still overweight.  I felt so sad when I heard his story.  He had worked so hard to lose the weight but those looking at him had no idea what his struggles were.  How dare they, I thought.

A friend of mine has had some problems stemming from abuse in the past.  Others around us have been critical of her and so have I and yet, we had no idea what demons she was facing.  How dare we?  It makes me sad to think about it.  So if we think about it there is never really a good time to be critical of others.  How do we know if they just lost a loved one, are struggling financially or dealing with something worse.  There is a lot of sadness in the world and why would any of us consciously bring anything but joy to those around us.

This is a hard lesson but one that I intend to pay more attention to in the future.  Will you join me by consciously seeing the best in others and allowing the highest and best in ourselves?