Hello and welcome to another edition of #TransparentTuesday! (Imagine I just read that sentence to you in some crazy announcer voice.) During #TransparentTuesday, we remove the rosy filters of social media and share real life.
This noggin of mine has been churning of late. Not to say that it doesn't always churn, it just does on different topics. The topic du jour? Judgement. We make so many snap judgements daily. An interesting book on the subject is Malcom Gladwell's “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking”
The key to good decision making is not knowledge. It is understanding. We are swimming in the former. We are desperately lacking in the latter.
“I am so much more than what you see.” Tweet This
We're all guilty of making snap judgements. These “thin slices” are used to make daily decisions: Do I go around this accident to prevent a delay? Do I smile at this stranger in the grocery store? Is this person with their arms out and running towards me an axe murderer or a hugger? You get the idea. Those things don't bother me. We all make so many of those in a day, and they're vital to us being able to go through life without wracking our brains over insignificant decisions.
What bothers me is the people who take time to spout their judgements of others in what they feel is a logical way. Like they can ID the character flaws of an entire set of people based on a single attribute.
Most prevalent that I see is weight as it's most relevant to me right now, but you could consider race, education, gender, age, political party, etc as groups as well. Look at any article online and read the comments and you'll see an amazing amount of judgement that is well beyond that of snap. These judgements are lacking in understanding and compassion. You see people who are convinced that their beliefs are right no.matter.what.damnit! and will tear others down if they disagree. It's these judgements – the ones that people take time out of their day to write and argue about – that just make me shake my head.
You can look at me and tell I'm fat. I can look at me and tell I'm fat. Unless you know me, the judgement and arguing about who I am as a person and what I do or don't do is just a pre-conceived, wide-sweeping judgement that isn't specific to an individual.
This post wasn't triggered by anything or anyone in particular. I actually feel lucky that I don't hear a lot of these judgements that are passed against me. Yet every time I see it in the media or on a blog, it just chaps my hide.
I keep repeating this to myself anytime I feel like someone might be making a judgement on me based on my appearance: “I am so much more than what you see.” It's amazing how much less I worry about others opinions when I focus on what I know about myself.
We all tear ourselves down enough on a daily basis – there's no time to allow others to keep you down even longer.
