Читать книгу Above and Beyond - J.S. Dorian - Страница 39

“There is so much good in the worst of us, And so much bad in the best of us, That it hardly behooves any of us, To talk about the rest of us.”

EDWARD WALLIS HOCH

Every once in a while a pharmaceutical drug is taken off the market because of previously unrecognized (or unacknowledged) toxic side effects. Indeed, at one time or another, many of us have had adverse reactions to even the “safest” of drugs.

Negative attitudes can affect us in the same way. Those of us with chronic illness can be “poisoned” when we indulge in even the smallest of doses.

Few attitudes are more toxic than judgmentalism. We indulge by surreptitiously sniping at other people’s decisions, lifestyles, appearances, and the like.

We may feel that we’re just “making sport” when we’re judgmental in these ways, or that our judgments give us an edge of superiority. But what we’re really doing is harming ourselves. This character defect keeps us in a highly stressful state, sending our body’s immune system a powerful stream of debilitating messages. Moreover, judgmentalism detours us away from our goals of wellness, spiritual growth, and inner peace.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

My negative judgments affect me negatively.