There are a few things in life which I personally believe should be stopped, and judging others is one of them. We have developed an absurd habit of judging others without hearing the complete story. I think everybody today is smart and one should try and listen to others before making a judgment.
We’ve had so many experiences in our lives where we joked around on a person’s choice, decision and on their thinking. It could be the kind of food a person enjoys, the kind of game a person chooses to watch or play, the kind of lifestyle he or she chooses and the list goes on. The worst thing a person can do is to observe and make a statement on these activities and once we do this we end up creating a typical image of that particular person in our mind. To be honest, nobody really knows what’s right or what’s wrong. Consider a case where two guys have been given some amount of money. One spends it all at once and the other might be a miser about it. Now by just reading the above example, we make up our minds and take one person’s side and make a judgment that the other person is wrong. We hardly bother to find out what kind of situation the two people were in or what the reason was for them to act in such a way. Even after hearing out their rationales, some might feel one is right and the other is wrong and vice versa. So, even after hearing a story out, it might not always be a good option to judge.
It happens so often that we make a call, judge someone and then the person proves us wrong. Again, this is not about our judgment being wrong, making a judgment in itself is wrong. Everybody has a logic behind a particular decision and in their very own world, they’re right. Again, there’s too much subjectivity on what’s right or wrong, so it’s best to just take a step back and not react. We also need to understand that helping your friend in need and giving him the right advice is completely different and we should not confuse it with being judgmental. Judging someone is observing certain aspects, traits and making a call, whereas when a person is in need and he himself comes up and asks for help, he understands that we are in a better position to make a decision and hence there’s nothing wrong in guiding somebody in such situations. That’s my take.
Long story short, I believe one should respect another person’s choices, decisions, thinking etc. and not be critical and judgmental. I would like to end this article with a quote by Ashly Lorenzana – “It’s okay to disagree with the thoughts or opinions expressed by other people. That doesn’t give you the right to deny any sense they might make. Nor does it give you a right to accuse someone of poorly expressing their beliefs just because you don’t like what they are saying. Learn to recognize good writing when you read it, even if it means overcoming your pride and opening your mind beyond what is comfortable.”
