The World’s Sport

I would like to talk about the world’s greatest sport. No, it is not football or soccer, nor is it tennis or golf. I talk about the world’s greatest sport, judging. Oh please, don’t be shocked. We judge others all the time. I’m not sure if we are really good at it, or if we are just persistent.

I am guilty of it, and I believe most others are as well. And yet I have learned something. Something important, and something I should share. This is pretty much a secret so don’t tell it to anyone other than everyone you know. Almost everybody gets judging wrong.

No, really, it’s true. Until you live the other person’s life, with everything they’ve had to go through, and with everything they needed to attempt for their survival both mentally and physically, you do not know. And therein lies the failure of most people to judge correctly.

If you judge somebody else by your life, by the standards you keep, by the reasonings that you have developed, you’re going to judge them wrong. I’m not saying everyone is right. I’m not saying people do only good and righteous things. I am just saying that until we delve into a background of another person, you have little to judge for their reasoning and actions.

Right now, you’re getting ready to pummel me with questions about mass murderers, those who abuse and take advantage of gender differences, those who steal millions, and the guy who keeps cutting you off on the freeway. And that is fair enough. If they break our laws, they are remanded to the judicial system. At that point, we are not judging them. We are prosecuting them for their actions.

It is too easy to judge someone, because we are jealous of their money, or power, or fame. It is also easy to judge someone because he/or she is beneath us and we feel we have righteous ability to hold it over him/or her. Quite often, we judge people who we think are judging us, even if the proof just isn’t there.

Think of how much brainpower, stomach acid, and stress we could save by not judging others we do not know about and concentrate on the one person we do know about. Ourselves.

Just one mean old master sergeants thought. Have a great day.

Author: Mike Balof

A retired Air Force Master Sergeant, Mike used to lay in bed at night and worry about what would happen if his plant closed or found himself without a job. One day his plant closed. Rather than panic and hysteria (OK, maybe a little) Mike found himself carried away on the adventure of his life. Mike started with the best job he ever had working at Home Depot. He spent 8 years working with job seekers at a local workforce center, helping them to find employment. He then started his own company developing courses, writing books and urging others to follow their own paths into the future. Mike holds a Master of Arts in Adult Education and Training and a Bachelor of Business Management, earned through the University of Phoenix and an AAS degree in Electronics Systems Technology from the Community College of the Air Force. Mike is a member of the Delta Mu Delta Business Honor Society. View all posts by Mike Balof