stop judging people

The night before back surgery, I prayed and said that I really wanted to let go for good—to let go of the fear, the anger, the hurt, and suffering.

I am reaching out to family members first, to begin the healing process. My childhood was bitterly unhappy sometimes. It is slowly coming together.

but then I went to a party house in a college town…. and I judged the party-goers.
The recklessness of underage drinkers tends to really get on my nerves. I can’t help but think they are stupid.
le sigh.

This is a problem that many people have, obviously myself included. It’s a habit to just make assumptions about a person by their actions or appearance. However every action has a reason. Every person has a story. It cannot be assumed that the action and appearances of a person are directly their fault and intentions to be perceived as they are by others.

I think this is a journey that will take a lifetime, to be completely honest.

And as far as “people”—I believe that one should include oneself.

Jesus of Nazareth taught two things, among many:

1. Judge not that you are not judged, for what measure you mete out, it is measured to you again.

2. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength; and love your neighbor as you love yourself. On these hang all the Law and the Prophets (Old Testament).

I interpret this as meaning do not judge others in a way that you would not also judge yourself, and love them as you love yourself. I believe this is the way of balance, where justice and mercy are as yin and yang.

This is one of the things on my list . I want to STOP judging people . I’ve tried it . And when I thought I wasn’t judging anybody . . . I actually was. Its really hard to tell when you are or your not . In my opinion . But its there I’m trying so maybe its not that hard if I actually put some effort and TRY .

I’m very judgmental and I could never live up to my own standards.

I don’t see this changing any time soon.

I am getting so much better at accepting most people for who they are. It has drastically improved my comfort level with many people, but has also made me more sensitive to those who are very critical of others… I didn’t anticipate this side effect, but I’m happy with being able to be around a greater variety of people.

people i know have told me that i can be self-righteous, holding myself above others and judging them. i don’t FEEL that…and see it generally as their seeking justifications to continue certain behavior patterns. i can be very defensive when ‘judged’ or pierced by others…so i am careful when it comes to my thoughts about other people. however, at some level, we do have to make judgments, and in doing so, aim to be as objective and compassionate as possible. so to clarify my goal, i seek to be objective and compassionate in my judgment of people AND myself ;-) and i ask for forgiveness from God, and from anyone whom I have ever ‘wrongfully’ judged (without objectivity and compassion), pre-judged or mis-judged.

I think I’m improving on this goal. I think I’m being more open minded when I meet new people. It’s great!

I think it is coming quite naturally now. Sometimes I do find myself making a judgement and I find myself realising and thinking again.

I don’t think I’m quite ready to take off this goal as I do still make some shocking judgements every now and then, and although I am aware of them and try to backtrack they still happen.

I am not sure how realistic it is to not think these things in the first place, and I can’t actually think of any concrete examples of the ‘shocking’ assumptions I’ve had but I just have this feeling that I need to keep this goal rolling over a little longer before I am ready to take it down.

Too much. It has to stop. It’s affecting my relationship.