Judging and being judged

Judging people, it's something we often do without even thinking, and usually with moments of meeting or seeing a person for the first time, even just hearing or listening to them. However, looks can be deceiving. Is the person hiding behind a mask? Have they built up a facade to hide behind rather than showing the world their true self?

 How often do we judge people on their appearances, their jobs or the first impressions of them that we get? Are these accurate judgements in the long run? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. There is often more going on behind the scenes than we are aware of, and this may well need to be taken into account. The same goes for ourselves. Do we purposely build up a personality that we think we "ought" to be, the person we think everyone else wants us to be, rather than just being true to ourselves?

 Rather than being judgemental, we need to have compassion for other people and allow others to be kind and sympathise with us too. We don't always know what goes on behind closed doors or what people are keeping to themselves. People can be in pain, be lonely, be going through testing times or just having a bad day for no particular reason. This is when they especially need our compassion, empathy, sympathy and kindness.

Alternatively, we could be the one suffering, having the hard time for whatever reason. If this is the case, don't try to keep it all to yourself. If people want to help you, let them. Accept their kindness. If you normally prefer to be independent and don't like relying on outside help, try not to see it as that, but rather as an exchange. They are helping you now, but in return you will then be able to help them at a later date if needed.

The overall message here is to be kind, to each other and also to ourselves.