“What do you mean, no butter?” I quizzed our prideful waiter who boasted that this renowned restaurant did not provide butter, but prides itself in serving three of the finest qualities of olive oil!
“What kind of joint is this?” I wondered considering the lack of butter as some kind of important indicator. Why am I clinging to my chains of narrow acceptance? What am I afraid of? Am I fearful that I won’t like the taste? Is it different from what I am used to? Have I always done it “that way”? Just what keeps us stagnant? Judgment!
Judgment, of all kinds, keeps us in our personal prisons, sheltering us from the unknown, the unexpected or unwanted. We oftentimes judge the book by the cover, the doctor by the number of degrees on the wall, the restaurant by the number of stars in the advertisement and the hotel by the price of the room.
How often have we heard the term, “ideal family”, “man of my dreams”, or “perfect kids”? Our culture is based on judging one another, assessing value and worth on a standard that someone else has set. Judging creates a critical view of life.
We miss out on new perspectives and new experiences when we get caught in our preconceived expectations. Something or someone “different” might offer an opportunity. Who knows I might have loved the replacement of olive oil given half a chance before I rushed to judgment!
“The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence.”
As humans, we survive by cooperation and not competition. We must keep in mind that every one has something of worth to bring to our situations… joy, learning, or merely the opportunity to practice tolerance and patience. Nothing is by accident.
Suspending judgment, seeing the benefits that each person and situation can provide is indeed “highest form of intelligence”. We need to open our minds and our hearts, ditching the fear.
There is a wonderful wide beautiful world out there if we are brave enough to break out of the chains of our personal prisons, built on judgment. Let’s ditch our narrow views in order to experience the “new” and “different”.
So why not give it a try? Why not, indeed?
