A mini-resolution
Wednesday, January 24th, 2007
I recently came across a cool blog post which suggested trying to have a judgment-free day:
Try to consciously perceive, for one day, only raw information and avoid judging or labeling or categorizing it. You will be amazed by the excess energy you have left at the end of that day. Not judging frees valuable cycles that your mind keeps uselessly spinning all the time. Everything is so much easier, more calm and more real without judging — more real as in closer to life itself and farther away from wishful thinking or fearing. Try it out for yourself.
What a fascinating idea! I do often find myself evaluating others (ideas, structures, people) in a really critical way, always looking to find the faults. While this has a positive aspect — you can’t fix faults without identifying them — it’s also true that it can really bring you down.
I had a friend in college who was extreeeeemely (yep, 5 e’s!) negative. He was fun to hang out with and treated his friends well, but he had nothing but bad things to say about almost everyone and everything that he didn’t already know and like. Sometimes, I wondered if he made fun of me behind my back (he called me “four-eyes” to my face, so who knows what he did when I wasn’t around!). After he graduated, he moved to Chicago to get a graduate degree in journalism from Northwestern. I missed him somewhat, but also felt like an incredible weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I was finally able to breathe — and smile! I no longer had to deal with negative comments all day, every day. I adopted a more open attitude toward new things and even found myself becoming friends with some of the people my ultra-negative friend had mocked! I discovered that there are a lot of great people and activities out there if you’re just willing to give them a try.
I think my work has helped me re-approach a state of negativity. I enjoy my job, but it does require me to make critical judgments about what does and doesn’t work on websites. I cringe at 90% of the websites I see every day, either because they’re atrociously designed (usually, not designed at all!) or completely unoriginal.
I look forward to trying this “non-judgmental” approach today, making it a priority to absorb information instead of making quick, critical judgments. I’d like to determine if avoiding judgment really does give me extra energy. Maybe it’ll be enough energy to run 8 miles today! That’s my tentative goal, though I don’t know if I’ll have enough time after work… but maybe I can sneak out a bit early. Don’t tell my boss! 
Anyone else want to be non-judgmental with me today??
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One Comment
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January 24th, 2007
I don’t think it is necessarily negative to look at things with a critical eye. If we didn’t we’d be making bad decisions all of the time. And, as you say, some of us have jobs where it is imperative that we look at things critically. I think the solution may be to temper our criticism with tolerance.
I think it is good for us to remember that we are not all equally talented in any given area. So, if we are really good at something, it is easy to look at someone else doing the same thing and to be critical of it. But, that same person may excel in an area that we would really be miserable at. (For example, some people never end a sentence with a preposition, ha ha!). I think helping to keep that in mind would lessen my negative thoughts.
In my life, I avoid negative people like crazy! I have found that others’ moods and attitudes have a big effect on how I feel, so I prefer not to be in the company of grumps, complainers and people who make fun of other people. It helps with the negativity!
Hope you get the time to reach your goal today, Tracy. To leave you with a positive thought - it’s a beautiful day here today and each day gets us closer and closer to Spring. Hard to be negative in the Spring!