This Week’s Quotation:
When you face the opportunity to take action, you are also facing all the times in your past when you took an action like the one you are facing now and it did not go well.
…You can appreciate the fact that you are wise enough not to subject yourself to the pain of failure when the odds of success are not good. You can assess the risks and rewards of action, and make wise decisions based on your assessment. You can balance the risks of action with the risks of non-action and choose the better course. You can choose to mitigate the risks in the actions you take. You can embrace the fact that in life, one way or another, you have to act to truly live.
~ Becoming a Sun p. 97
Practicing Good Judgment
In our internship classes here at Sunrise Ranch, we have been exploring Blessing, Understanding, and Taking Intelligent Action.
We had a stimulating discussion recently around the different uses of the word “judgment.” In one definition, this is criticism and classifying people or things into the categories of good and bad, or right and wrong based on our own perspectives and opinions. This can be detrimental to true understanding and the ability to clearly see something for what is. When we hold a preconceived idea of what something is, also known as prejudice or pre-judgment, we are seeing through a filter of our own making and distorting our perception of reality.
The other definition of the word judgment relates to a wise assessment. We have common phrases such as good judgment and bad judgment. The good or bad relates to the level of wisdom and discernment that is involved in the process of decision-making or planning.
The ability to practice good judgment is the determination of how well things fit together based on all the factors present. This is exercising intelligence before taking action.
We are collectively called to let love radiate without concern for results. This means not letting our expectation of the outcome determine whether or not we limit the amount of love that we express and radiate. However, when taking action, we do want our actions to be fruitful and effective, to produce a particular result. May our love expressions be unconditional; and our actions be born of intelligence, wise, and full of good judgment.
What does it mean to become a sun?
Every human being is already a sun on the inside—a being of intense love and light. The difference is that some people have the vision and courage to become a sun on the outside. This difference is our human destiny.
4 Responses
Being aware that judgement itself is not ‘bad’ – is a great relief to the world – “The ability to practice good judgment is the determination of how well things fit together based on all the factors present. This is exercising intelligence before taking action.”
We can have views to share – experiences to share – and in the end – caring to share.
“We are collectively called to let love radiate without concern for results. This means not letting our expectation of the outcome determine whether or not we limit the amount of love that we express and radiate”
Thank you for the blessings of this post….
Many thanks, Gary. I appreciate the point you are making re discernment as opposed to put-down. PRE-judgment is clearly the root of PREJUDICE and yet the judgment of the situation I make before crossing a crowded street with lots of traffic may be life-saving. Got it. Thanks much for your reminder. Blessings upon your large creative field, Gary. To all reading everything publicized on this blog such as the on-line course and David’s book BECOMING A SUN are highly recommended. Love, Tom
This was an interesting consideration. What I think might’ve been missing from the discussion (I don’t know, I wasn’t there), is how the judgement is exercised.
Some people make lists when trying to make what seems a difficult decision. A list of pros and cons. That is clearly attempting to use one’s intellect to make decisions. The difficulty with that is that the conscious mind can only take into consideration factors that it is conscious of. There are many things that are below the level of conscious awareness, but which nevertheless we are actually aware of (some people might call that level, the subconscious mind).
So, the question becomes how does one come to a decision which allows both levels of awareness to be included? I think that comes pretty close to what might be called having an intuitive feel. But our intuition is only good insofar as we have true vision, not clouded by preconceived ideas or judgements. This brings to mind that Biblical quote: “Where there is no vision, the people perish”.
As David writes, “you have to act to truly live.” May this action be intelligent action flowing from the ordering power of Love. Thanks for so beautifully demonstrating this, Gary, in your own teaching and living..