The Daily G.I.F.T. from The GratiDude

Give everyone and yourself a break. Judge less and love more, you’ll be glad you did.

www.grateful4.org

Gratitude

Intention

First

Things

The G.I.F.T. Today

Grateful-for making it safely to Charleston and seeing my kid excited. Its the greatest.

Intention-home wherever you are-find a friend

First-feed the kid

Things-Keith a quick call

Morning Platitude from The GratiDude

Empathy. What does it mean to you? Is it important?

I think it is.

When I see other people overcoming challenges and struggling to do things that most of us take for granted it just makes my heart opens and I want to pour out love and encouragement.

It is a remarkable exchange when you can switch your mindset from being judgmental to being curious and concerned. You can’t be both judgmental and curious at the exact same time. Similarly, you can’t be grateful and a victim at the same time. These are two other emotions and thoughts that can’t exist simultaneously.

I’m particularly excited about the concept of shifting all judgment to curiosity because the reality is, we have no idea what other people are going through and what types of challenges people are facing on a day-to-day basis.

When you see people or situations and we feel the need to quickly summarize what’s going on or to tell ourselves we know what’s going on, those are just ego games to make ourselves feel better. We never know what’s going on with other people because most of us have trouble knowing what’s going on with ourselves and how our own thoughts work and operating on a moment-to-moment basis. If we can’t put our finger on our own thoughts, what makes us think we would be able to know what’s going on with other people?

Yes, being overly judgmental can negatively impact your mental and emotional health, potentially leading to increased stress, anxiety, and even depression, while also hindering your ability to build healthy relationships.

Here’s a more detailed explanation:

Negative Impact on Mental Health:

Increased Stress and Anxiety: When you focus on criticizing others, you reinforce negative thought patterns, which can lead to increased stress, anxiety, and even feelings of depression.

Lowered Self-Esteem: Judging others can stem from insecurities and a need to feel superior, which ironically can lead to a lower sense of self-worth.

Difficulty with Empathy and Compassion: Being overly judgmental can make it difficult to see things from other people’s perspectives and to feel empathy or compassion for them.

Damaged Relationships: Judgmental attitudes can damage relationships by creating a sense of distance and distrust.

Why We Judge:

Cognitive Biases: We often make judgments based on cognitive biases and mental shortcuts, such as stereotyping or the fundamental attribution error, where we attribute others’ actions to their character rather than external situations.

Seeking Superiority: Judging others can provide a temporary sense of superiority or a way to deflect attention from our own shortcomings.

The Cycle of Judgment:

Perception as Reality: We tend to fuse with our judgments and perceive them as reality, which can lead to a lack of acceptance of others’ beliefs.

Reinforcing Negative Thoughts: When we focus on criticizing others, we reinforce negative thought patterns in our minds.

The Benefits of Embracing Empathy and Understanding:

Improved Mental Health: Embracing empathy and understanding can cultivate a sense of compassion and promote positive mental health for both yourself and those around you.

Stronger Relationships: Empathy and understanding can help you build stronger, more meaningful relationships.

Personal Growth: By seeing things from other people’s perspectives, you can broaden your understanding of the world and learn from your experiences.

If you pulled up next to this gentleman at a stoplight and looked over at him, the last thing you would think would be that this apparently able-bodied looking man would be parking his car soon getting his wheelchair out and wheeling food up to a door as part of making a good honest living. It would be one of the last scenarios you could ever imagine because it’s so unusual and not something that we think about especially for those folks that can walk on their own 2 feet.