Judge Not

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet we are given one of the Bard’s great lines: “To thine own self be true.” It is profound and timeless (originating with Socrates’ “Know thyself”). But how do we maintain our self, our goals and our sense of value in such a busy world? To continue with the Shakespeare theme; how do we buffer the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” all the while encountering the negative energy and judgments of others?

It has been said that for each person who stands up and tries there are one hundred to say it can’t be done. I would add that there are another two hundred who will judge you for your efforts. I am not talking about someone analyzing your effort or offering a critique (solicited or not). I am talking about those times when people assign a value to us; I am talking about those times when someone judges us in the Biblical sense. Sometimes you will even be surprised by friends and family; they often feel they have earned the right to judge.

We would all like to go through life without being judged by others. I like to think that we all desire to go through life without judging others as well. Neither of these options is likely. One way to handle the judgments of others is called “holding your space”. This is a concept practiced in yoga and often seen in accomplished yogis. The basic tenet is to be “present” in the moment and to own your personal space. Take responsibility for and control of what you allow into your private space. It may sound strange, but we must actually practice taking an active role in protecting our own sense of worth and happiness. Too often we passively allow others to invade our space and affect our very estimation of our worth. Too often we allow others’ value judgment of us to become our own value judgment of us. When you feel that happening remember:
People who care about me do not judge me and those that judge me, I do not care about.

To Your Success,

Sean Purcell