In my book Stripped Down, I have a whole chapter on judgment. In it, I ask:

What is judgment holding you back from?

Judgment is itself a limitation. When we judge, we distance ourselves from whatever it is that we are commenting on. Whether it’s a person, situation, context, or culture, when we judge we impose a hierarchy of value onto what is before us.

The thing is, that hierarchy is irrelevant.

It doesn’t exist.

Sure, it may feel real, especially if the thoughts you are thinking are part of a value system held by people around you. What’s really happening is you are putting yourself in a role you don’t belong in: measuring someone or something else’s worth.

When we put ourselves into that role, we ultimately strip ourselves of opportunity and precious moments of figuring out who we are, one clumsy, awkward step at a time. Judgment is a separator, a divider, and it is the symptom of a deeper emotional wound that deserves love, kindness, and guidance to transform.

We can only judge in others what we are already judging within ourselves.

So what gets to happen when we release ourselves from judgment? What becomes accessible when we let ourselves, and everyone else off the hook? Can you sense into the spaciousness that can arise when we give ourselves and each other permission to be human? What about the possibility to behold our own worthiness that effortlessly arises in the absence of judgment?

If you are tired of judging and feeling judged, slow down, and start spending time with your own worth.

You deserve it.

ps - Join me this week on May 17 for my “Say YES! An Affirmative Prayer Writing Workshop” to write tailor-made, personal prayers for your own upliftment and peace, and two days later on May 19th for “(Re)Sourcing Self: Meeting Your Emotional Needs with Love” to learn about ways to become the source of meeting your own emotional needs. Click on my calendar for more information.