Your friend’s spouse is no longer at home. A work colleague has put on weight. The customer is agitated and curt. Our immediate reaction is to judge and opine, and in most instances, it is typically a negative one. They are separated. He is lazy and eats poorly. She is rude.
Who asked you? How do we know what is going on in someone else’s life? Their mother in another country is terminally ill, there is an illness, a loss, an event that was out of their control that they now need to deal with. Yet, we are quick to judge.
It’s not that it matters what you think, and there is even less need to share those thoughts. Reflect may be a better response than react. Give the person the benefit of doubt, and allow empathy to replace judgment. You will feel better about it.
