Don't Judge What you Don't Kow

Sometimes, trying to look at a situation from a different perspective will help you to be a more compassionate and appreciative person.  Last week, while out on a trail run, many interesting thoughts came to mind as I became delirious from running in 90+ degrees with high humidity and little air movement, except that caused by myself.  Some of those thoughts will be further developed in my next few postings.  Towards the end of what seemed like the longest four miles I have ever done, we (my brother and I), came across two people walking.  They were smoking.  Instantly in my mind, I judged them for smoking and was disgusted with the fact that I had to run through their cloud.   On my drive home, I thought about this further.  I thought, who am I to judge?  Afterall, these were the only people we had met on the otherwise busy trail.  The temps were hot, and conditions all around uncomfortable, and to be perfectly honest, unsafe for high amounts of exertion.  Yet, they were out walking.  Perhaps, they were out enjoying that they had finally begun exercising or maybe they were celebrating that they had met some health goal.  For all I know, maybe they had lost 25 pounds already.  Really, who am I to judge these people that I knew nothing about?  Maybe these two were trying to get into a healthier lifestyle and this day was getting them down, maybe they were about to quit exercising.  In considering all this, I thought to myself.    Does condemning these people in my mind for smoking help either of us?  No, it does not.  Instead, the next time I find myself in a situation like that, I'll at least smile, say, "Hello," or better yet, give a positive compliment about being out there.  Afterall, you can never know what the depth of impact your actions and words can have on another person.  So why not make it a potentially positive impact!