RANDOM THOUGHTS

I find it hard to appreciate judgmental people. I find them the most hypocritical types of people after those who go for a Valentine's Day meal when clearly they are not in love. Okay, enough about my Valentine's Day angst.

When I was growing up, someone pointed out that when you point one finger in your hand towards someone, four are pointing at you. That left an indelible impression on my psyche, because now when I witness someone criticising or gossipping about another person, I mentally see the four fingers and think - 'I wonder what is there to criticise and gossip about you'.

No one is perfect. I think one of the qualities of a human being is to make mistakes and an even endearing quality is to learn from these mistakes. So when a woman cheats on her husband, for example, that does not make her a whore in my eyes. I won't stop talking to her or treat her any different. If she chooses to learn from it, with or without getting caught, good for her. If she doesn't, I still will not treat her differently. End of.

You see, when we judge people, we almost always use limited information. If we were privy to all the information, our judgment may change. Which is why I don't waste my time passing it. I just take people the way they are. If they do something that truly shocks me, I process the information within and come to the conclusion that we are humans.

A friend of mine is currently in serious trouble for alleged cocaine trafficking. I hope he beats the rap because I like him very much. That is all what I'm basing my wish on and not on whether he's innocent or guilty. You know why? It's because, if he was guilty and went down, I'm sure the world will not be a better place because of it. If he beat the rap, whether innocent or guilty, knowing him as much as I do, I'm confident he'll be a better person. If he's innocent, then he's being unfairly treated. If he's guilty, he will learn from his mistakes.

There is no way I'm condoning illegal actions but when you consider the hypocrisy of this world, is it any wonder I'm looking after the interest of my friend first and foremost. Is that not what everyone else does? Look at USA in the Israeli-Palestine issue. Did they not also bomb Iraq on false allegation?

Back to judgmental people, I have a message from you. Judge not unless you judge yourself first. While you point your finger, someone else is judging you.