“I thought he seemed like a Coke person,” the woman bantered, implying that liking the other brand was an immediate down grade.
Sitting perched in my coffee shop chair gave me ample room to sit and ponder her statement and the similar judgments that we all make regularly, as if judges on a game show. Have you noticed that as humans we grade everything; from a person’s taste in soda; body weight; car status; right on down to the breed a dog owner chooses.
Suddenly the Andy Rooney in me felt compelled to brooch the question: Why the need for judgment? Does judging instantaneously promote us to a god-like status in our own minds? Do we suddenly levitate several feet off the ground by the mere act of riffling off our weighty grade?
What if we were all on the same playing field, came into life naked and clumsy, and left pretty much the same way? What would it be like if instead of judging others, we acted as if we were on the same team, cheering instead of demeaning others?
Instead of yelling out an offensive quip the next time you’re cut off in traffic, how about offering a “you’re excused” pass, remembering all the while that you yourself have rudely barged in front of someone, or another, at some point in your life?
What would it feel like if we all confidently owned our own value, so that we didn’t need to break in and tamper with someone else’s? What if we not only owned our value, but at the same time didn’t need to lord our esteem over others. What if we perceived that others are just as valuable as we believe ourselves to be and joined all together as winners in the game?
I'm not talking about the idea that everyone on the team gets the same trophe. I am simply suggesting the idea that if you are fully engaged in life, you won't need to one-up somebody else. If you are playing full out in your own life, you won't find the need to competitively trump someone else.
I dare you to spend the week viewing the world as a win, win world, instead of believing that for you to win, others must lose.
