It is my desire to strive to be a better me every day. I have interpreted my life experiences as a message to myself that reminds me over and over how terrible I am. I associate this guilt with religion.
However, I believe inner peace can be found in loving others without judgement. Rather than disparaging myself I wish to focus on the value of others. One message I have held onto from Christianity is to love others.
It is difficult not to judge. I hear a story of some terrible act, told not with regret, but with humour or relayed without any shame, and I think ‘I would never do that.’
Each day I am reminded that I should never underestimate the evil in myself. Never overestimate the evil in others. I continually surprise myself in the worst ways. Humility is a key component in love. Judgement often comes from the belief that I am superior in some way.
Self-love and self-acceptance are currently highly promoted. I believe loving yourself is important. I also believe that the self-love we support so strongly today is being promoted counter-intuitively.
Posting selfies constantly and seeking approval from others only drags down our self-esteem. We focus on our appearance rather than what our talents and gifts can contribute to the world. Posting on social media becomes about how many likes a photo can get. Changing how we look or present ourselves to get the highest amount of responses is not self-love.
At work, I listen to stories of people cheating on spouses. I listen to women say they’re glad a co-worker died. I listen to people saying they hate someone who, in my mind, is very similar to them. I listen to men calling women they’ve slept with, whores. While I have an opinion, my place is not to judge. Why is humanity like this? How can I display love and not judgement?
I have discovered that the best way to witness hate is to respond with love. The best way to tolerate bullying is to respond with understanding.
Absently Searching 