Wisdom, Judgement, and Experience

"Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often a result of lack of wisdom." ~Terry Pratchett

You've heard people say "don't judge me" or perhaps you been told at some point "you're so judgemental." Further still, you've probably been guilty of both.

Fact is, we've all been guilty of being judgemental and very likely, more so than not, overly so.

Yet, is it truly others we judge or do we actually judge ourselves in the act; throwing out conviction just as quickly?

It is said, "don't kill the messenger."

We, learn and gain wisdom through past experiences in our lives. Those experiences (the messengers, if you will) teach us how to relate to, judge, and gauge the present circumstances in our lives.

Most of us, while oftentimes spiritually or mentally debilitating, hold on to those past experiences and memories as a badge of honor and (more often than not) we wear them as martyrs. We cry out (often in secret) "this/that happened to me" and "you better/better not treat me this/that way" and we judge everyone around us; or so we think, based on our martyrdom.

However, the reality that goes unfaced, denied, and ignored is the first judgment begins within.

We listen to the monkey inside (the first judgment) throwing his proverbial "shit" at us with lies like:

"I'm broken..."

"I'm hurt..."

"I'm bad..."

And the next step (second judgment, if we let the monkey dictate the first) is: "you better" and if the person or people don't placate our unspoken demands, then we immediately convict them.

Metaphorically speaking, we judge the present crop (of people and circumstances) by the harvest we've previously experienced forgetting we have new seeds we can plant in the NOW.

So what's the lesson, message, or wisdom we can reap from all this?

Our past experiences DO NOT have to dictate our present actions and judgments. Those experiences, while it is true they have shaped us and our point of view, are gone. Sure, maybe at some point we were indeed broken or hurt, we may have even been bad people; treating others in heinous or hurtful ways, yet in the present, the past becomes nothing more than a messenger. We have a choice, kill the messenger (our memories and experiences) with a slow suicide of internal judgment or sow new seeds based on the wisdom the messenger gives us.

Which seeds will you wisely plant today? Will you plant more judgment or will you plant love, healing, forgiveness, and compassion for yourself?

May you be blessed with the wisdom to plant the latter so as to reap the same in the present.

"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant." ~ Robert Louis Stevenson