I'm a little judgmental.
okay.
maybe I'm A LOT judgemental.
But I don't do it on purpose....most of the time.
Usually I'm just sailing along, doing my own thing and then out of no where ...WHAMo --a thought pops into my head and I'm left thinking, "Gosh Debra Lea, that was a pretty crazy thing to think about that situation/ person/ animal etc. etc. etc."
And then there's the times that I'm purposefully judgmental.
Yep, I actually do that sometimes.
Embarrassing, I know.
Take the other day, for example. I was running around crazily with my mile long to-do list and time was of the essence. After running through Costco like a mad woman, I was hopping into my ultra cool mini van where I noticed that the man parked next to me was lighting up a cigarette....with his two young kids in the back seat. This just happens to be one of my BIGGEST peeves ever. All kind of less than complimentary thoughts were running through my mind about this man and I was judging him with the harshest of my judgments with only knowing this one thing about him. He must be an all around terrible man, right? I continued thinking this until we both were backing up at the same time, me in my rushed sour scowl and him in his careful, watchful, courteous smile. There was an awkward brief moment when both of us were edging our way out and motioning the other to go and in the end he, of course, let me back up out of my stall first. I was so grateful yet so embarrassed for my thoughts.
This experience really got me thinking.
What if all of us wore our struggles out there, for the whole world to see, to judge. And people only saw our mistakes and judged us before they saw the good in us?
Is it the good or the bad, the hardships or the triumphs that really define us? Its all of the above of course. Then why oh why do I do the whole judging thing without having the whole story?!
Yep, I actually do that sometimes.
Embarrassing, I know.
Take the other day, for example. I was running around crazily with my mile long to-do list and time was of the essence. After running through Costco like a mad woman, I was hopping into my ultra cool mini van where I noticed that the man parked next to me was lighting up a cigarette....with his two young kids in the back seat. This just happens to be one of my BIGGEST peeves ever. All kind of less than complimentary thoughts were running through my mind about this man and I was judging him with the harshest of my judgments with only knowing this one thing about him. He must be an all around terrible man, right? I continued thinking this until we both were backing up at the same time, me in my rushed sour scowl and him in his careful, watchful, courteous smile. There was an awkward brief moment when both of us were edging our way out and motioning the other to go and in the end he, of course, let me back up out of my stall first. I was so grateful yet so embarrassed for my thoughts.
This experience really got me thinking.
What if all of us wore our struggles out there, for the whole world to see, to judge. And people only saw our mistakes and judged us before they saw the good in us?
Is it the good or the bad, the hardships or the triumphs that really define us? Its all of the above of course. Then why oh why do I do the whole judging thing without having the whole story?!
Just some food for thought.
2 comments:
I did the same thing the other day, but it was with a mother! I then had to remind myself that the Savior spent his time with those who are struggling. I am reading the New Testament, so these thoughts come often lately. But ahh, we all need to give each other a break right?!
OK, so I have totally been thinking about this lately. Something I heard awhile ago really struck me and stuck with me. Maybe you'll enjoy it - here goes:
So this lady is turning left on a busy street. There are lots of cars behind her, some quite impatient and honking. What they don't know is that this lady has to make a quick right into her subdivision right after she turns left. These people that are honking don't know this. They only know she isn't turning left when they think she should. What if people knew more information. I don't think they would honk if they understood her situation. What if we knew why people were grumpy or not paying attention - they just lost their mother or they found out a friend has cancer.
Anyway, there you have it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts...
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