Don’t Judge

We human beings are incredibly gifted creatures. We experience the world in ways that other animals just can’t. We can also exploit the natural world in ways that no other animal would be able to. In the charts of evolution, we are at a place that’s unique to us. That’s why, it’s very easy to think of humans as one homogenous group. Especially us homo sapiens- we all have similar features, similar gifts and can do similar things. But even with all the gifts that we have been given, the one thing we can’t do is live the life of another human being.

Every one of us is unique. Because we can think and make decisions for ourselves, every single one of us sees and experiences life differently, and deals with the complexities of life differently too. And as long as we don’t invent a magical prism through which we can see someone else’s life from his/her perspective, we just have to be content with the fact that everyone has to live their lives on their own, and has to make decisions out of the choices that they’ve been given. But alas, so many of us tend to forget that.

As we tread further on this path of life that’s unique to us, we continue to encounter advice and notions that are alien to our own existence. We get advice left, right and centre. On what choices we should take, what decisions we should make, and most of all, how we should live our lives. Very few people have the patience to actually listen to your story and show us enough respect to at least try to see things from your perspective, but most would dole out unsolicited advice in an instant. And there’s no shortage of judgement too.

In a world which is just a horse race on steroids, people have basically been turned into horses with bets on them. They need to win, or they don’t matter. Most people around us don’t even make the effort to know what we are going through, before passing judgement on our life choices. If somebody has achieved success in his life (or at least what he perceives as success), he will not be content with just living his life happily. He will, for his lifetime, have the license to comment on what everyone around him needs to do to achieve his perception of success in their own lives. It’s very important that we are not persuaded by these people to make decisions that should entirely be made by us, and only us. Because no matter what someone else has gone through or has done in his own life, he hasn’t lived your life. He hasn’t faced what you have had to face to make the choices that you have. And it’s only you that has to live with your choices, for better or for worse.

To the people who tend to judge others based on their worldview, their own perceptions of right & wrong, and spit out advice on how someone else should live his/her life, just be a bit better. Accept people for who they are, and not what you want them to be. Because you don’t know what someone else is going through or has been through. You don’t know about the volcano of emotions bubbling under the fragile exterior that’s pretending to be fine. You can’t possibly know about those dark nimbus clouds, that hover deep inside that heart, and sometimes, deep in the night, in times of loneliness and despair, reach the point of saturation and come out as teary raindrops. So don’t judge. Be better as people, and realise that everyone is different, and everyone has the right to live the life that he/she wants to. Because at the end of the day, people who know you, will remember you, not for what you achieved in life, but for how you made them feel when you were around them.

So don’t judge.

SRD.