We’ve all been through different events in our lives that weren’t exactly what we expected or thought the outcome would be. If you’ve lived at all you can agree that life is not always easy and sometimes it can beat you down! whether you’ve been through a hard divorce, lost a loved one, had regrets, whatever the incident may be, it’s what you do with those situations that really defines your strength of character. That’s why as my new friend Laura put it, it’s important to “Walk gently in other peoples lives”. We don’t always know what happened to another person or where they have been in the struggle of things. It’s important to be companionate to others as you’ve never walked in their shoes.
That’s why I’m so passionate about not judging other people – obviously, we must judge actions and choose whether an action is right or wrong – that is not the same as judging the whole person. Who is anyone to judge another person? We are supposed to be there for others to help them get up off the ground not shove them down again. It’s easy to get caught up in who we think another person may be or look at them and judge without knowing the crosses they may have had to bear. Trust me, I’ve been judged for so many reasons and until recently most people had no idea what I’d been through. I, too have judged other people in the past.
I guess that’s where knowing who you are and not caring what others think is so important. Yes, we all want to be accepted and it sucks to be judged, but does it really matter in the end anyway if someone judges you wrongfully? I personally don’t want anyone in my life who doesn’t have compassion for me and decides to label me without knowing who I am for real. Usually it seems the people who judge others most harshly have more skeletons in their closet anyway and they are obviously so unhappy with themselves they have to point the finger – a place I never want to be again!
I’ve met some of the most incredible people in some of the hardest places in their lives. To me, it’s humbling to really get to know someone and hear their struggles and realize we are not alone in this journey called life. Everyone has their own struggles and if we all reach out a hand to encourage or help someone else the world would be a much better place!
With the Holiday’s approaching this is a very difficult time for many people. I encourage you to step outside yourself and do something nice for someone just because. Many people may not talk about it, but the Holidays are tough for them and really take a toll on their lives. Yesterday my mom ordered fire wood to be delivered to her house from the sweetest little family. The mom and dad both work other jobs but they need extra money for Christmas so they’re cutting and selling firewood on the weekends. They all came out and helped stack the wood as a family. It was so sweet watching the two little girls help their dad and mom stack the wood and I couldn’t help but think about what a blessing this is. My mom put an extra tip on top of the total bill to let them know how much she appreciated them and I was so happy to see her do this. What an awesome little family they were and how cute it was to watch them work together to make a little extra money for their Christmas. It’s moments like this that I thank God for all the blessings in my life.
I hope you have a happy Monday!
God Bless
Heidi
holdheidishand 