4 Important Reasons to Avoid Judgement and Accept Others

Judgement is very commonplace in today’s world.  Through our interactions with each other, through commercials, news programming and even music we often hear many judgements of ourselves and others.  However, despite the fact that judgement is common, there are a number of good reasons why we should avoid judgement as much as we can.  Accepting others is actually much better for our quality of life!

1. No one is perfect

Because none of us is perfect, we all are subject to criticism and judgement, and this alone is a good enough reason why we shouldn’t judge others.  None of us is smart enough, healthy enough, thin enough, beautiful enough, wealthy enough, friendly enough, polite enough, outgoing enough, etc, etc, etc.  We have impossibly high standards that we judge each other and ourselves on. 

Judgement implies that there is some kind of “perfect person” that we should all aspire to be, and none of us wants to feel like we have to live up to perfection.  When we judge others, we subconsciously accept the idea that perfection is possible, and this only puts more pressure on ourselves to be perfect.

2. Judgement brings out the worst in people

The people around you will live up to the standards you set for them.  I learned this very well when I was a teacher.  When I made negative judgements about students, they would usually live up to them.  If however, I chose to focus on their positive traits they became productive and successful students in my class.

All people are like this, including you and me.  You’ve probably notice this when someone who doesn’t like you is around.  Aren’t you more likely to sneer and be unkind?

The same is true in reverse.  When you are around someone who thinks highly of you, don’t you tend to be more of your best self?

Using love and acceptance over judgement can help inspire the people around you to be their best selves, which makes their lives better (and your life easier)!

3. Criticism pushes many good people away

No one likes being judged and criticized.  There are only two kinds of people who will choose to hang around us when we are overly critical: those who are highly judgemental themselves, or those who believe they deserve to be criticized.  Lots of good people will be pushed away by judgement. 

If we are the company we keep, it’s a good idea to try to keep high-functioning, strong and kind people around us.  In order to attract and keep people like this around us we must do what they do: lift others up rather than knock them down.

4. People usually have a really good reason for why they are the way they are

We are all struggling with something.  The meanest, nastiest people on Earth are often the ones who have suffered the most struggles.  Those who have the most obvious “imperfections” are often the ones who are in the midst of turmoil and desperately need compassion.

Most of us don’t want to knock people when they’re down, and this is another great reason to avoid judgement and practice acceptance instead.  Understanding that the things that we view as “wrong” in others are often indicators of another’s struggles can help us choose acceptance over judgement. 

Though judgment is commonplace today, it really doesn’t do any of us any good.  Through acceptance, we feel better about others, we help those who need it and we inspire positive behaviors from everyone around us.  Through judgement and criticism we push people away, beat up on those who are already down and encourage more of the negative behaviors and traits we dislike.

Choose acceptance to improve your life, and the lives of those around you!

Did you like these reasons why we should avoid judgement and accept others?  Subscribe to my newsletter to find more information on how to live a more positive life, or feel free to check out my website or blog.

Image by Tori Rector.  This image has been cropped and resized.

Andrea Schulman