Judgement - Does It Matter?

How often do we judge ourselves and others? How often are we judge and jury on what is right and wrong or good and bad? Do we pause to recognize that we aren't seeing the whole picture? Are we aware the experience we are having at any moment, and the judgement associated with it, are just a blip in time? Will our judgement be the same next week or five years from now?

People make decisions that make no sense to us. People do things to harm other people. Politicians make us crazy. We don't always come through for ourselves. Most of us have a morale compass, and most likely times in our lives when we leave the compass tucked away in a junk drawer and take the other path.

Prior to experiencing several of my "nevers", it was easier for me to judge others. My judgement was often concealed in self righteousness that looked like, "I would never do that", "how could she do something like that?" Perhaps my experience with my own judgement has propelled the fear of being judged by others. I know for certain my opinions never changed an outcome and judgement only serves to create separation in one form or another which is not aligned with my top values of love, kindness and connection.

I still want people to like me and respect me and I want my family to love and adore me at all times. I think most of us want this, right? When I get that awful feeling in my gut someone is not happy with me or thinks less of me, it can consume my thoughts. What can I do? Will this affect our lives forever? How can I fix it? While I believe this is an affect of my co-dependency developed in early childhood, I also believe it affects many of us in our lifetimes.

I'm able to stay still more often through fear of judgement or ridicule. I'm able to wait for the next indicated step rather than clamoring for reassurance which is something I could never have done ten years ago. Still, the fear is there. Still, I sometimes stop in my tracks, overthink and reconsider decisions based on how other people may think of me, rather than connecting with how I really feel. God forbid, I make a mistake or lose credibility.

Where is the line between consideration for other people's opinions and being an empowered individual? Where is the power to trust the universe and believe everything will be okay no matter what people are thinking of you? Where is faith when fear is hovering over your head like a dark cloud? Where is the courage and the acknowledgement for all the life you've navigated up to this point?

It's here. It's here all the time - the power, the trust, the faith, the courage. For some reason, we can't always see it. The truth is no matter what we do in our lives, it all seems to work out. Those sayings, "everything happens for a reason" and "you are exactly where you are supposed to be" can sound so cliche and ridiculous when all hell is breaking lose or you feel your heart crumbling. Then a year or may be even a day later, you've turned the corner and it isn't so bad.

Today, I witness many people stepping into the unknown through what appear to be risky decisions and I admire them for their courage. I hope I can admire myself this way as I continue to gain wisdom and awareness. I hope to have my opinions matter the most for me and respect other people's opinions as theirs, separate from me.

As awareness continues to unfold in the world, I hope we can join together as fellow humans to be the best humans we can be on this journey instead of judging the path people choose to take. My goal is to look back at my path with gratitude and joy for everyone I got to walk with and every experience I got to have. "We are all just walking each other home."