1 Mile

Major's Hill, Ottawa, On

 Isn't everything so much easier as an outsider looking in? To stand by and watch, to judge and criticize from a distance, allowing yourself to imagine how, if it were you, you would have done things differently. 

But there is a difference, isn't there? There is a difference between being the person watching from afar and being the person living that moment; the person faced with making that decision, living that life.
We make judgments. We all do it. We see something. We make observations. We assess. We draw conclusions. These are responses in our human nature. 

Some are kinder than others. Some make judgments, keeping them to them self. Some think these judgments to them self and still feel a pang of guilt for being cruel. 

Cork City, Cork Co., Ireland

Others make judgments in their mind and share them with those around them. Some go beyond that, filing away these judgments for another time, an opportune moment. A good example of this would be when they find them self out with friends and without anything interesting to speak of. They reach into their bin of OMG Did you know!? / Have you noticed!? / Guess what!'s and share there juicy gossip (conversation starter/judgement = attention seeking device) with the whole crowd.
I have judged people. However, I can confidently say that I am uncomfortable with passing judgement on people. If I think something badly about someone, I try to remind myself that even when you think you know someone, there is always more to learn. Though, if I found myself in their position I may have chosen a different path, even if they are my closest friend, I don't know how things look from their perspective. 

So, is it ever fair to pass judgment? Some would raise issues of controversy saying that it is okay to judge someone's actions and say that what they did is wrong, if they did do something wrong. I don't see an issue with stating fact. However, I am not comfortable with going beyond fact. I am not more human or above anyone enough to be able to place judgement upon them. Who am I to say or to believe that I have the answers for someone else; to think that I know better. I cannot know them better than they know them self. I cannot know what they have seen or heard, how they have felt, what their life circumstances are. I can try to guess, but how reliable and fair is assumption?
My life has not been that of a fairy tale. I can't imagine that anyone's life has truly been. Each experience that we live, we learn from. We make observations and we gain experience. We feel emotions. We exchange dialogue. We make interpretations. Each of these are simply responses of our human nature. And just like our DNA is unique to each of us individually, the life that we live is unique to each of us, individually. 

Remember that.