Judging

      From the moment of our birth we become part of the vicious circle of judging others.  “It’s he just the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?”  “Does she have the most adorable nose?”  It seems by our receiving such admiring comments from others around us we are imprinted with the idea that in some way, we are “better” than others because we have been favorably judged by those who are around us.    

     It doesn’t end when we are babies.  The praise and comparisons continue while we are growing up.  The areas in which we are compared to others changes, but the imprinted desire to be better than others is continually reinforced by those around us.  I must add, this is not always done with any type of malicious intent on the part of others.  It’s only that we have been ingrained with the idea that we are better and we must continue to prove that we are by what we do.  And if we can’t do things that demonstrate our superior then we are to do and say things that put others in a lower or inferior position to that of what we currently have.    

     We know and understand that there are going to be circumstances and situations where our actions HAVE to be judged, such as according to the legal system under which we live.  That IS NOT the type of judging that I am referring to.  I am talking about the type of judging wherever the conditions are presented where we have been indoctrinated to feel that for whatever reason we choose to use as the standard, we make ourselves feel, or appear, better than others.

     We do it because out school class is better than another.  It’s because our side of town is better.  My hometown is better than yours.  The country in which we are living is superior to another country.  Our parents are better.  Our type of employment is better.  Our financial standing is superior.  We are more beautiful than others.  We are better respected than our peers.  We could go on and on with any number of “areas” that we might use to compare ourselves with others and judge that “WE” are superior to them. 

     If you give the subject some serious thought, you’ll find that we truly are motivated from a very young age to begin compare ourselves with others and find “reasons,” whether they actually exist or not, to declare that WE are the ones who are superior.  And it is true, we do need a measure of pride and respect for ourselves so that we can have a certain dignity about our very existence.  But, the idea of any one of us being superior to another is a learned trait.  One that we are taught about ourselves from birth.  One that continues to get us into more trouble than we really want to admit.

     In actuality, the human body is approximately 99% comprised of just six elements: oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, calcium, and phosphorus.   So when you give the matter some thought, we are no more superior to another when considering we are composed of the same elements that make up other living things around us.  Our “superior” comes from the fact that we believe what others have been telling us from birth.  We are neither “superior” or “inferior” to one another, just different!  We major problem comes with dealing with the fact that we’re only human!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"If it's not my right to judge YOU,

don't you judge ME!"