On being judgmental

It's hard not to judge, isn't it?  Hard not to evaluate a person, a situation, and make a decision on how we feel about it.  But there's a thin line between judging and perceiving, isn't there?  A thin line between evaluating to figure something out, and evaluating just for the sake of passing judgement. 

I think that judging is something we as humans come by naturally.  It's a part of our thought process, a part of how we distinguish what we like, what we don't like, what is acceptable, and what is beyond our limits.  Judging isn't always a bad thing, but most of the time we take it too far.  We judge before we know the facts, set our minds against something or someone, sometimes based on insignificant material. 

It's hard to not judge.  It truly is, and anyone who says different is probably fibbing just a tiny bit.  I have to remind myself all the time to keep an open mind.  To not pass judgement too soon, or at all, because as the good book says, do unto others as you would have done unto you.  And while it's true that everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt at least one time, it's extremely difficult to always abide by this sentiment. 

A lot of it has to do with attitude.  When I'm tired or just generally in a bad mood, I can't help but be a tad more judgmental, a tad less open minded.  But if I'm feeling on top of the world I find I'm much more willing to think the best about things, to not be so quick to judge.  I'm assuming the rest of you out there are the same way.  Attitude determines so much, doesn't it?

The thing about being a judgmental person.....it's exhausting.  So much mental energy goes into that whole process and in the end you don't even achieve anything.  Some people can't help but judge.  They have to insert their opinion, their summation, into every situation whether it involves them or not.  We all know people like this.  Maybe at times we even are people like this.  But when you think about how much time, how much energy, is wasted on passing opinions that we often have no right to pass, you realize that your time would be better spent on other endeavors.

I try to keep an open mind.  I try to respect the ideas and decisions of others without writing them off because they might not necessarily agree with my viewpoint.  I try to do these things and still I find myself at times silently brooding, silently judging.  Why is it sometimes so hard to not judge?  Is a little bit of judgement okay, or is this a most major character flaw that we all share?

Once again I don't have answers.  I just wonder aloud and pose the questions, hoping that some kind of conclusion will present itself.