Day 12 Practice: Judging Less
“Comparison is the thief of joy.”
Whether we are conscious of it or not, we engage in judgment incessantly, busy judging ourselves, our experience, and others. We constantly evaluate and label most of what we encounter throughout our day as good/ bad, right/ wrong, liking/ not liking, or wanting/ not wanting.
So today may we first notice how often we engage in judgment without getting down on ourselves or even judging ourselves more (which we call “the second arrow” making a challenging situation even worse with our response). And can we take notice of how judgment feels in the body? The feeling tones of subtle uneasiness, the underlying feeling of unworthiness, the tenseness of comparisons, or maybe a deep emptiness? Can we become curious of the mental state of judgment and how it resonates from within?
As you feel into the state of judgment, may you create a sense of spaciousness around it, soften internally, maybe even refrain from the judging mind for the moment. Each time we take a break from the judging mind, we are gifting ourselves a break from the internal comparison and bitterness, a genuine break for our nervous system. And that’s why mindfulness and meditation feel so restorative.
Some refer to the practice of mindfulness as a practice of renunciation. We are renouncing our patterns, our harmful habits, and mind states which cause us harm (stress, anxiety and even depression). And as take this practice to heart, just a kind reminder that this is a practice. We probably will never perfect it (this practice for a lifetime) but even a little less judging each day can go a long way for our mental, physical, and emotional well-being. May we refrain from judgment today, even if it is just one time. Allowing that to be enough.
“You don’t have to be equal, you don’t have to be better, you don’t have to be worse. You can just be at peace.”
“If I’m judging the attachment, myself, or another person, then I create separation.”
“Mindfulness is a form of paying attention that is neither judging nor wishing things were different. Rather, it is a form of paying attention that is resting with an open heart and an open mind seeking only to know what is true.”
“It is this capacity to separate awareness from the common reflex of continual judging that can be transformative.”
“Peace is this moment without judgment. This moment in the heart-space where everything that is, is welcome.”
“For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.”
“We attain wisdom not by creating ideals but by learning to see things clearly, as they are.”
“Until you are able to love and take care of yourself, you cannot be of much help to others.”