Have you noticed how much more judgemental you are feeling at the moment? I have

I notice that my ability to judge others becomes one of my super powers when I am feeling less than secure in my own self and given the levels of uncertainty that we are facing it is no surprise that I and many others may be feeling less secure.

I’m noticing myself judging others for their full shopping trolleys, their lack of social distancing and how many times they leave their house….oh yes.

Of course, while I am not actually saying this when I am judging them what I am really saying is why are you allowed to behave like that when I won’t let myself?

And while I am focussing on my perception that others are not following the new rules to the letter in the way that I am the reality is that I am feeling insecure in some way and judging them is my way of feeling better about myself

Afterall, if you go into a courtroom and see the judges position they are always higher up than the rest of the room….and they hand down their judgements.

When we judge others we seek to elevate ourselves in some way.

There’s another issue with being judgemental and critical…it cancels out empathy. When we are judging we are in the opposite of empathy. Empathy is to seek to understand another’s view or position…when I am judging you I am in the complete opposite…I don’t care what your issues are I just want to point the finger and judge.

With empathy comes compassion and we really need to be more empathetic and more compassionate with each other in these times.

That person who is not good at social distancing…..they may be forgetful….the full shopping trolley….they may be shopping for several vulnerable people….those people leaving the house more often….maybe they are running errands for the needy.

Going forward I am going to catch myself being judgemental and critical of others and I am going to ask myself a question….”what might be going on for them?” and I am going to seek to put myself in their shoes and see the world from their perspective.

Try it. We need less criticism and more compassion