Nothing can take down a renewed sense of sovereignty faster than the opinion of your neighbor.  The long and winding highway of opinions carries heavy traffic both ways.  It seems that life becomes a hell of a lot easier when you get off the road completely.

What other people think of me is none of my business.  I had to say that to myself repeatedly for at least ten years before I actually believed it.  Until the day that I decided to change my thought patterns, I had made “what other people think of me” not only my business, but a career.  Considering, evaluating, and incorporating the opinion of others was pretty much my life’s work!

In retrospect, it would seem that this business of “what other people think” has always been a prevalent issue throughout my life.  Since I started writing this blog, I have visited the topic of influential thorns throughout two related posts titled, Don’t Tell Me What You Think and Still Not My Business.  My niece would remind me not to dwell on the past if I prefer not to repeat it.

True.

On the other hand, it has been my experience that identifying the origin of a habitual thought pattern broadens understanding.  Knowing why you process things the way that you do is enlightening.  It becomes easier to forgive yourself, appreciate the experience that it gave you,  and move on.

Many features of Catholicism were pivotal in shaping my current approach to life.  Labeling these aspects in terms of their beneficial or detrimental effect on my life is pretty much old news.  However, it should at least be noted that after spending half of my life practicing Catholicism, I know the contents of a standard issue ‘Handbook on Judgment’ from cover-to-cover.

The uncanny ability to automatically judge others is the benchmark of Catholic proficiency.  As if on command, we can formulate an immediate opinion toward another human being.  Whether this opinion reflects the way that other people dress, eat, raise their kids, talk, behave, or how they practice their religion, almost every Catholic I know can make an instant judgment call upon any given observation.  Until we remember that we have a choice, it’s just what we do.

Universal wisdom reminds us that “What ye sends out comes back to thee.”  Is it any wonder that sitting in judgment toward our fellow human beings subjects us to the perceptual arena of constantly being judged upon?

I figure that I do enough judging within myself.

Having to consider the perceived opinions of others just adds to the traffic that I already have racing around in my head.  A good witch need only compare herself to herself, and would be wise to stay off of the Judgment Highway altogether.

Tags: catholic proficiency, Catholicism, judge others, sovereignty, thought patterns, what other people think