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Unfortunately, I missed class last week due to illness.  So, when it came time to write my blog, I wasn’t sure what my topic should be.  I contemplated at least 100 different ones before deciding they weren’t relevant or I wouldn’t be able to discuss them enough.  Then I began thinking about this past weekend.  I attended a convention for my business fraternity in Philadelphia.  There were at least 20 other schools/chapters in attendance.  For many of them, this was a new experience.  They were young chapters, while Penn State’s chapter has been standing for decades.  For that same reason, the difference in the levels of professional development was quite obvious.

So as the groups waited outside the conference room, and I was looking around, a friend asked me, “Do you just stand, judging everyone?”

I was incredibly taken aback by the question and immediately responded, “No, not at all.”

A couple others laughed and said, “I do.”  “Same here, you should try it.”

I spent the rest of the weekend thinking about that conversation and continue to now, mostly because it’s something I’ve been questioning a lot about lately.  It shocks me how much time we spend judging and talking about other people.  It fosters so much hatred and pessimism within us.  I’m not trying to sound pejorative or even judgmental in my analysis – I’ve noticed it in myself, too.  When I become stressed and the weight of school is bearing down on me, I become more negative and take it out on others.  I consciously try to fight it now because I love how easy-going, care-free, and happy I feel when I’m not participating in such thoughts.  Also, whether it’s spoken or not, it becomes a driving force in our lives.  Judgment goes from ruling our thoughts on others to ruling thoughts on ourselves which in turn makes us more despondent.

We can’t stop making comparisons – it’s how our brains are wired.  But, I strongly believe that we can change how judgments are utilized and how we act on them, just as we have trained our critical thinking abilities.