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Showing posts from May, 2018

*Should* we stop making judgements and being judgemental?

If you don’t already know how I feel about the word * should *, let me enlighten you: I hate it. It sets the stage for so much criticism , as though there is only one way for life to be lived. Life is a collection of consequences we deem suitable, not something that can be boiled down to a formula of what we * should * do.   So when I thought, “ I wish people would be less judgemental ” my next thought was, “ we *should* stop making judgements ”. Luckily my internal * should * alarm went off and I pulled myself up on it to ask, “ why *should* we? ”. (Hopefully the excessive repetition is also making you hate the word *should* - yes, I have an agenda!) So, why would you want to stop making judgements? Because it’s mean ? Because they can be unfounded ? Because they lead to stereotypes and prejudice ?  All valid reasons. Unfortunately, none of these reasons overwrite our natural tendency to internally categorise the world (judge), nor is it necessary.  I