Touchstones

The touchstone I chose to explore was number six, suspend judgement. I have been judged by others all of my life. When I was in the ninth grade, I had terrible acne that prevented me from enjoying a lot of the experiences that high school had just began to offer me. I eventually decided online school was a better fit, as I could not handle the dirty looks that people would give me just because I had skin problems that were not under my control. After sitting at home alone for several weeks, I decided it was time to do something about my skin. I went to a dermatologist and he prescribed me Accutane, a powerful drug that is designed to absorb all the oil in your body and will eventually make it to where you stop breaking out all together. Fortunately for me, after seven months of taking the medication I finally had clear skin. Ever since then I have looked at the world in an entirely different way. It is the nature of the world we live in to criticize the actions of others that we ourselves particularly don't agree with. Because of my own experience, I have a nasty habit of judging others. I would not consider myself intolerant or ignorant, but if something doesn't fit in a certain "box"than I am quick to express my often conflicting opinion. I realize the importance of suspending judgement, it is the only way to expand our minds. Keeping an open mind when listening to others will be greatly beneficial to me. The thoughts and expressions of others ignite thoughts in my own mind that I would never arrived at otherwise. Getting a job and working with strangers has really taught me to become a more accepting person, as I was going to have to work with these people whether I liked it or not. As a result of me suspending judgement, I have come to find that I actually rather enjoy my coworkers and others like them. They are all unique and have different things to offer the world. I guess that is true for everyone on this planet, except for those who murder and rape people. Those two crimes are unforgivable in my eyes. It is okay for me to judge someone who has committed a heinous crime because their actions warranted it. If they were just average aw abiding citizens than I probably wouldn't have much to say about them. But isn't that the nature of judgment itself? Our own views and values is what makes us all different from each other, and what makes us look at each other differently. I am sure that the way I look at someone is much different than the way someone else would look at them. Perhaps that is what we need to stop from happening though. We need to live in a judgement free zone, than maybe the world would be a happier place, especially America. America truly is the most diverse country in the world. We are a nation of many backgrounds, all coming together to create a symphony of culture. Unfortunately, I do not believe our world is ready for its people to start suspending their judgement, which is nothing but sad.