“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” – Mother Teresa
Her outfit. His hairstyle. Their relationship. You find yourself judging people you don’t know based on things you think you know, and this happens all the time. Whether it’s subconscious or not, we always end up criticizing other people for the way they live their lives. Judgment is the one thing we all despise, yet it’s everywhere we look. And more often than not, we’re the reason judgment is there in the first place.
Judgment is a cycle of self-consciousness and hypocrisy. We feel like we’re constantly criticized, whether it’s by a stranger on the street or by someone you’ve known for years. We feel like others are picking us apart, so we pick ourselves apart looking for reasons to feel flawed or inferior to the people around us. We hate feeling judged, but somehow, we find ourselves on the other side of the situation at some point.
It’s a funny thing, judgment. Maybe we do it to get some sort of revenge on the people who we feel judge us. But what good does that do? Judging people without knowing them or having experienced what they have experienced is unfair to them, and by judging others, we continue to spread negativity. In a society where judgment is in every tabloid and on every channel, it’s hard not to give in to it. But, if you think about how you would want others to perceive you, it makes it a little easier to judge less and to love more.
Loving people is how we form the most precious relationships we have in this life. If we had been quick to judge our best friends before we knew them, would we be as close with them now? Would we have them in our lives at all? I’m not saying I’ve never been judgmental because I definitely have, but I’ve gotten a lot better about it because of how it has affected me. Silence negativity, and spread positivity. You would be surprised how much good could come from it.