Life Should #9

As cliché as it is, never judge a book by it's cover

You will miss out on so many interesting people and opportunities

If we are honest, everyone single one of us has unfairly judged someone or something at some point in our lives.  We may even do it more often than we will ever want to admit.  The question becomes whether or not we can recognize it and learn from it. I’m not saying it’s easy.  I'm not denying that there are still times I take one look at a person and decide, yep, I know exactly who they are, no conversation needed.  Yet, when I do this, nine times out of ten I’m dead wrong. 

As an example, I met a young man just a few weeks ago that, I’ll admit, gave me pause. Tattooed up his neck and by his eyes, piercings, “roughly” dressed, you can imagine.  This is an example of where I assumed I knew how this interaction would go. And, you guessed it, I was dead wrong.  Here was a young man I was about to dismiss out of hand until we talked.  Did he make different choices in life than I would have?  Yep.  But, that did not mean he didn’t have similar values or priorities he was working towards.  He worked with troubled kids in recovery and was incredibly passionate about it.  He was working to establish a good life in the way that made him happy.  He was well informed and well read.  Frankly, he was accomplished in a way most of will never be; he overcame obstacles that most of us will never face.

This is not to say that there won’t be those “bad apples” that happen in life and fit stereotypes (someone had to start a stereotype right?).  Nor does it mean we are not cautious or unsafe.  It means we do not start by assuming someone is a stereotype.  In fact, we should probably dispense with stereotypes altogether and just wait and see.  If I had not done this in the above circumstance I would have missed out on meeting an incredibly interesting and admirable human being. 

The point, get out and stay out of your perception box.

[Thought to be considered with a Seven Layer Bar – layers and layers of wonderful surprises.]