Drive by Thoughts “Don’t Judge Me”
I don’t understand this “Don’t judge me” phrase I keep hearing people throw around to defend themselves?
It gets used for anything from eating your food in a unique way, to poor lifestyle choices etc…etc.
No doubt, people are judgmental, and sometimes it’s in a nasty way. Sometimes, “nasty” is putting it lightly. But lets think a little deeper about using this phrase.
You don’t live life without being judged. It’s part of being human and coexisting with other people. If someone can see you with their eyes, hear what you say with their ears, they have judged you with their mind. It’s natural. Like anything, it has negative and un-fair executions, but in simplicity, it’s a voluntary process.
After hearing this phrase used, I wanted to bring up this thought. Is being judged by other people, often a good thing?
I think so. Having peoples reactions/judgments of what we are doing/say/acting teaches us so much about social standards, how to act, how to react, what things are important enough to us to go against the grain for, or if we are being a jerk, or about to do something stupid. I’m a human and I have done plenty of stupid things. Do you know what helped me be smarter? My parents and friends judging me and letting me know I was doing something stupid.
Next point, what does saying “don’t judge me” do??? Our amazing brains work so fast, we have made 5 judgments about each other by the time those words are spoken. The only thing left, is to decide if it’s worth it to you to try to change someones opinion of you.
The world doesn’t owe it to you to let you do everything judgment free. But take a moment and think about what kind of person you would be if it did. Can you say all the wisdom you gain from dealing with being judged is without value? What kind of deficiency would that leave in the development of our characters.
Perhaps my opinion while change with time. I’m fine with that. But for now I think it’s such a silly thing to throw around this “don’t judge me” phrase. Judgment is something that shapes you.
Choosing whether it’s something you avoid, or let it make you stronger and wiser is naturally a personal choice. For now, I feel “don’t judge me” is this strange little excuse throw around without much thought.
Later addition
I was surprised to see some people I don’t know read this. So, for the readers who know nothing about me, let me add this. This post in no way is intended to brush aside that many cases of being judged wrongly/unfairly have caused emotional, possibly physical damage (aka bullying) etc. Cases like that are as I said above, the “nasty” side of things. Things that are wrong and should not be ignored as wrong. However, I feel coining “don’t judge me” as a phrase you use for anything and everything, subtlety desensitizes us, and the upcoming generations about what these words mean, and learning and empowered way to receive what the world hand out to you.
