The slippery slope of comparison. It can even be found in the spiritual community whether it be religious or new age. You would think that since every spiritual tradition, old and new, usually counsels against judging that we would all work diligently to eliminate the judging. However even those of us that consciously work at non judgment find that it can be insidious.
Part of the reason that it can creep into your life even when you understand it always diminishes you, is that the nature of this game we call life is making choices. We are here to create a life and that means looking at what is created already and evaluating what we prefer and don’t prefer. It means taking what is and using it to inspire desire for what isn’t yet and what could be. We look around at our circumstances and new possibilities come into our mind or vision or experience and we decide we would prefer that new possibility. That is how we designed our experience and it is forever moving forward. The problem is that now we start judging our new preference as better than the old circumstance.
Now if someone else happens to enjoy our present circumstance or prefer our present circumstance, they are either “behind” or “holding us back” or all the many forms of making things not quite right. It takes awareness to keep from judging something different from what you prefer as bad. Bad can be all kinds of things, not just the evil or immoral type of bad (and that could be another discussion completely). Bad can be stupid or less intelligent or less cool or less rich or in poor taste or unsuccessful or all the ways we put something down. Basically if you aren’t being uplifting and/or loving then you just may be judging.
Anytime you judge you are essentially also judge yourself and that is why it is such an insidious and treacherous, to be redundant, thought and feeling. Comparison can easily lead to judgment. Especially when we don’t realize that each individual is so different from every other individual, that comparing apples to oranges can’t even encompass the concept.
in addition, when you judge your present circumstances as bad or less than in some way, because now you have a new preference, you actually hold yourself in the present circumstance. You can’t get to the new preference by judging yourself or your present circumstance as less than.
In our present world of rapidly changing times, exponentially increasing in speed, it is imperative that we guide ourselves to what we authentically want. It is so life giving to look within on a regular basis and decide what is important to you personally and then look outward with your priorities consciously decided. It is so life giving and uplifting to be kind to yourself and your circumstances and see them as good even if you would prefer them be different.
