“I can’t believe she did that.”

“Did what?”

“I held the door open, and she walked right through without so much as a thank you.  She didn’t even acknowledge me.”

“I hate it when that happens.”

Ω

How many times throughout your day do you find yourself thinking thoughts similar to the one above?  “I can’t believe he said that.”   “Did you see that guy cut me off?”  “He didn’t even say thank you.”

Pay attention today, to see how often you have thoughts similar to the ones above.  Thoughts that are critical in nature towards another.  Thoughts that “judge” another.  Think about what those thoughts do to you.

Think of a time when you opened the door for a stranger who walked right in without saying a word or looking at you.  Or you can think of a similar situation.  Now, think about how you reacted.   Did you criticize the other person in your thoughts?  What emotions did those thoughts awaken within you.  Possibly, anger, bitterness and resentment?

Now, let’s look at what is actually going on.  First off, we have no control over the behaviors of others.  Some people will smile and thank you for opening the door as they walk through and others will appear to be expecting you to open the door for “their majesty!”   However, you must know that you are opening the door in this case, because it is a nice gesture.  A gesture that some will recognize and others not so much.

The recognition of your act of kindness is not the reason for doing such acts.   If you appreciate the recognition that is fine, but do not expect it nor let yourself fall prey to only doing such things for said recognition.  We do things because we want to do something for another person.

When you find yourself “judging” others or critiquing others, you are letting your ego control your thoughts.  Pay attention today, to how often you have “judgmental thoughts.”  When that happens, observe the situation.  Observe your emotional state brought on by those thoughts.  After recognizing the tendency to judge, you can then let go of it.

At the end of today, do a self-assessment and play back the “game film.”  Look at all of the situations where you were judging or critiquing another.  Often times, we spend much of our day critiquing our mate or those close to us.  Now think about all of the positive behaviors that you observed.  Can you think of any?  Possibly not, since the so-called “negative actions” seem to always be more memorable.

InspiraCard

Make the commitment to let go of judgment and criticism.  Replace those actions with positive actions of acceptance and love.   When we accept everyone we have no reason to judge.  Lead the world to one of acceptance and find that you no longer have reason to judge!

Written, Wed, Feb 4, 2015 8:20 – 8:30 AM MST