Tag: labels

We are all one moment away

Posted on by philipdodson

We are all just a short step from our life being turned upside down, there are no guarantees, no certainties…everything can change in an instance. It can come from just a simple choice that leads to a big change.

Yet we can be cruelly judgemental of others who’s perceived fortunes have changed and are seen as no longer worthy humans because their struggles in life have lead to them becoming, say homeless or drug users or whatever other activity society might sneer at.

We are all worthy, no matter what, from the day we are born to the day we die. Our choices are not the measure to define us by. We all make them and we all make ‘good’ ones and ‘bad’ ones. It’s all very subjective anyway, who is to say what is right?. Yet as a society we are conditioned to judge others for their ‘bad’ choices, yet we’d excuse ourselves.

Judgement serves no purpose and is actually more a reflection of ourselves than the person we judge.

We are all one moment away from a bad choice…so best to accept others as they are and to leave others to be. Our choices are the only thing we control and again, it doesn’t make us a bad person permanently, if we make a wrong choice. We can start again in an instance and change, but it becomes harder once we have been labelled.

You are a lair

Posted on by philipdodson

If we label someone, we are branding them, we are damning them to a role or story that gives them not just shame but little room for change. It’s easy though as the mind needs to box everyone up, so it can instantly compare and judge them with ourselves and others.

If we say ‘you are a liar’ it is very different to saying ‘you made a wrong choice to tell a lie’. The second option does not judge them or label them as a liar, it is just us voicing our view of their choice.

Our society is driven by our mind and the collective mind’s need to label and blame others. It is a way of us being superior.

We may choose to offer a view of another person’s decision or choice but to label and judge is not for us to decide. No one is a liar, or unkind or hateful or whatever the label…they just make choices at that moment some we may see as good and some as bad, but that is subjective and depends on perspective.

If we accept others as they are and choose not to judge, that still leaves us a place to comment on their choice of behaviour towards us, without us suffering within from their behaviour, and it comes from a place of not judging them as a person. This allows the other person to be free from shame and labelling.