will not judge when I don't know the facts...

not judge when I don't know the facts. It's easy, but unfair and unkind, to sit back and pick apart someone else's life. To call them names, decide that they are unworthy and to pass judgement on what you have decided are their mistakes and their failures.


But what you see on the surface isn't the whole story. If you don't live that persons life - if you haven't walked in their shoes - if you don't know their struggles, their disappointments, how those experiences have shaped them and changed them - how can you judge it? The sad part is, maybe you don't care. It's an easy position to stay cloaked in self-righteousness with no qualms about chiming in on why you think someone else is flawed and how you couldn't possible relate or accept "someone like that." Maybe it makes you feel superior to comment and judge someone? Maybe you think it makes you stronger to call out the weaknesses you think you see? But just remember that you don't know what they've been through, just like they don't know what you've been through. So next time you decide to judge someone, why don't you stop and think first. Why don't you take the time to listen and learn about that person. We all have life experiences, good and bad, that we've gone through that hopefully help us learn and grow and move on. Maybe what you look down your nose at is a pivotal experience this person went through that devastated their life and they are just trying to move forward. Maybe they had hopes and dreams but lost everything and want to start over and do it better this time. Maybe they got caught in circumstances you know nothing about and they are trying to make the best of it anyway. Or maybe they just made mistakes and are trying to learn from them and create a different life....

So, for today I will not judge when I don't know the facts. I will stop trying to make myself feel superior by putting down someone else's efforts. I will actually acknowledge that I don't know everything about everyone in every situation and I will temper my attitude and my tongue with compassion, humility, and a little understanding. We're all human. We all live in glass houses. Don't throw the first stone.