Judgement

I come across a lot of judgement in my life. From what I understand from my extensive reading of spiritual, inspirational and motivational material over many years this is because I am judging others and it is therefore a reflection of what I do in my own life. As I am aware of this I have analysed this a lot. I know I try really hard not to judge others. I strongly believe that everyone is on their own path and makes decisions based on their own knowledge at the time, life experiences up until then and family of origin experiences.

I think it is natural to be aware of what others choose to do and question whether that would fit into your life according to your values, in other words testing the strength of your own values, or dismissing it as it does not fit your model of the world. Is this rejection of others' values judgement? I'm not sure.

I have started quietly questioning the judgement I feel has been directed towards me by expressing myself more freely with confidence and clarity and have been pleasantly surprised when after the discussion I can see that my conviction is actually admired, not being put down. Previously I have held my tongue and stewed over careless comments on the way I choose to live my life, losing sleep over what I could have said or done and what I would do better next time but, of course, next time never comes and I just end up really tired and cranky :)

I still have a long way to go to set boundaries over what I will accept as reasonable but have been given lots of opportunity already this year, probably because I made a decision at the beginning of the year to start setting these boundaries. And guess what? The world has not caved in.

Love Karen