Ten seconds is all it takes for us to judge the things we don’t like about someone when we first interact with them. Somewhere along the way, society made a checklist. We go right down the list, marking off whether a person measures up or not. At first glance, we start by judging physical appearance. Attractiveness, height, weight, skin color, hair, facial features, and so on. If the person speaks, we judge them by the voice that comes out whether it is too loud, too soft, or an accent different from our own. Sometimes they talk too much or don’t say anything at all!

Dare I say, we also judge intellect? In less than a minute, we can tell if there is any popcorn in the microwave. If, by chance, they seem smarter than us then we poke fun at their intellect and call them by the names of brilliant minds of the past. We see people get upset and comment how they need to get a handle on their emotions. What a temper they have. Look at what a mess they are. As for career choice, if theirs seems less prestigious than what we do, then they are just a “fill in the blank”. If it seems more prestigious, we aren’t nearly as impressed as they obviously are with themselves. Who knows, they probably climbed all over everyone to get to the top… crook.

Imagine for a minute, how would that person you are judging feel if in that moment they knew your exact thoughts? Would you be ashamed? Embarrassed?

This does not mean you have to accept their values, beliefs, or even behavior. You do not have to like what they like. But for starters, acknowledge and accept them as a human being. Our bodies are unique in their own distinct ways, yet we are a lot alike. We all talk different, yet we all share the need for communication with each other. We think different, which adds new perspectives we may not have seen otherwise. We act different which makes the world we live in more vibrant, exciting, and adds mystery to everything.

The point is, we are all different in some way. All our paths are unique, with no two sharing identical paths. In more ways than all these mentioned, we are the same. We want to be happy. We want the best in life, for ourselves and for the ones we love. The next time you see someone and want to judge them, try not judging them. I know it’s difficult! But everything gets a whole lot simpler when you throw away the checklist.