“Every time you judge someone, you reveal a part of yourself that still needs healing...Recognize that the other person is you.”-Timber Hawkeye
When I was in college, like many people, I took the Myers-Briggs personality test. The intention of this test is to inform us of our personality tendencies & traits.
You might (or might not) be surprised to learn that I am an INFJ (Introvert, Intuition, Feeling, Judging). In fact, when I saw the result I thought-
ME judgemental??!!! That can’t be right.
Ironically I was even judging my degree of judgement.
Judging is a lifelong lesson for me. I judge everything from the way an individual chooses traffic lanes, to how a speaker moves through his/her words.
But the most significant part of my judgement is the knowledge that what I judge in others is a reflection of the judgement I hold for myself.
Do my hose have a run in them? Why is my hair so fly-away? How obvious is the fat roll over my pants?
My inner dialogue rages uncontrollably most of the time.
The movie Mean Girls appropriately coined this talk as ‘word vomit’. I try to be intentional when noticing how word vomit attempts to hijack my inner voice. The negative things we tell ourselves always end up affecting those we love around us.
When we judge our jeans for fitting too tight, we begin to see tight pants on our neighbors and colleagues. Word vomit is simply the broken parts of ourselves waiting to be healed. These wounds only close when we call them out for the ugly untruths they truly represent.
My take-Redirect these thoughts toward love, and forgive the thought. Heal the wound, heal the soul. Remove your inner judge and watch the love fill yourself and those around you.