Heather and I went on a hike. We did an exercise that a friend shared with us. On our way up, we thought of what we could get rid of in our lives. On our way down we thought of something that we could pick up and add to our lives.
I landed on losing my judgmental attitude. Or better put, trying to lose my judgmental attitude.
I have found it so easy to be negative in my head about people that violate things on my list of actions that people should and shouldn’t take.
Jesus said: “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.” –Matthew 7:1-2
There are so many benefits to losing my judgmental attitude!
- Relaxing and not worrying about the other person lowers my blood pressure level.
- My critical attitudes can never change the other person. And if I ever got up the nerve to tell them about their violation of my little principle, they would probably be very angry with me. Then it would actually be worse for me and for them after our encounter ended.
- It’s a wonderful thing to assume that the other person has a good reason for doing what they are doing! My favorite story illustrating that is a fictional account I heard… A middle-aged man in a red Ferrari was driving fast on the shoulder of a backed-up freeway. Almost everyone looking at him speeding past thought, “He’s doing that because he has a super-expensive car and feels like the world revolves around him.” However, his wife was in the process of having a baby. He needed to get her to the hospital as fast as he possibly could.
Join me in this… we could all use a little more understanding and acceptance!
Paul Merrill writes here every first Friday. But September 1st came too fast this month, so this is September’s post.
Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash, Creative Commons licensed.
300 words a day 