Warriors don’t waste time judging
“Don't judge too harshly, for if your weaknesses were to be placed under your footsteps, most likely you would stumble and fall as well.” - Richelle E. Goodrich
There is no time for judgement on the battlefield. Warriors are supposed to be mindful of their thoughts and aware of their actions. Most people are not and accidentally believe that their thoughts are real and painstakingly act upon them. Yesterday, I read an interesting article titled Acute social isolation evokes midbrain craving responses similar to hunger which appeared in the journal, Nature. This article described how isolation and hunger act very similarly in our midbrains. Thus, someone could mistaken hunger for loneliness and loneliness for hunger and because they don’t know themselves, they could mistakenly act upon that thought thinking that it is real. This lack of awareness could be the reason for all the pandemic hoarding, bullying, selfishness and insidious weight gain. In training, someone once said, “Students bring their stuff to the mat” which means that we are all working on our baggage and sometimes it comes out in training. When this happens, it helps the student realize what things they need to work on. O’Sensei said, “Be grateful even for hardship, setbacks, and bad people. Dealing with such obstacles is an essential part of training in the Art of Peace.” Joseph Campbell said, “[Life] brings us trials and revelations. Understanding their assertions, we can appreciate that every person is wrestling with their demons and how dealing with our stuff is a part of training and life and so we shouldn’t judge them. We shouldn’t judge others in their struggle because we don’t really know where they are in their process but also because when we are struggling, we don’t want to be judged either. Ian Maclaren said, “Be pitiful, for every man is fighting a hard battle.” So true indeed. Today, be kind because there’s a lot of stuff going on in the world. Have a great and safe Thanksgiving holiday if you live in the US.
Today’s goal: Try and catch yourself if you’re judging others, but especially if you’re judging yourself. Be kind!