From Judgment to Amazement

Theme for March: Vastness

Saturday, March 20, 2021

         One of the best habits I can develop in the future is being non-judgmental, but it won’t be easy. I have been an incorrigible judge on a daily, hourly, and moment-by-moment basis for my entire life. I constantly assess every aspect of my life as to whether it is good or bad, helpful or not helpful, harmless or dangerous. The way I continually pass judgment, I may as well go around in judge’s attire with a gavel in my hand. It’s truly remarkable that I would set myself up as a judge, given the fact that I have no particular wisdom with which to pass judgment on whether a present moment is good for me or not. How can one isolated individual in this boundless universe possibly know enough to assess the value of a given moment? Since there are an incalculable number of possible ramifications for every occurrence in my life, how can I, a mere mortal, pretend to be able to decide which occurrences will be good for me, and which will be bad? It’s actually shocking to me to think I have spent so much time – most of my waking hours – sitting in judgment on everything from people to events to situations. It’s shocking because it tells me I have missed an enormous amount of the wonder of life by being so focused on handing down judgments. While I was deciding if the moments in my life were good or bad for me, these astonishing moments were flashing right past me. What I need to do is develop another habit – that of being, as much as possible, completely non-judgmental. I need to realize that each and every moment this universe creates is somehow appropriate and useful. Instead of judging, I need to accept. Instead of being opinionated about everything that happens, I need to practice being constantly amazed.

It was easy to be thoroughly amazed during our sunrise walk along the river this morning. Here is some of what we luckily saw. Swipe across to enjoy the slide-show …