Measurements

Measurements

Today I was again surprised at the contradictory nature of most people. We all, as individuals, live our lives in a fairly solitary manner. What I mean by that is that *I* see life & the events around me from *MY* unique perspective. I live, act, choose, & define things based on that singular viewpoint.  While I can, & sometimes do, attempt to explain my individual reasons & motivations for the choices I make, that does not mean that I seek to 1) have my reasons validated by anyone else........or 2) expect anyone else to make *their* choices using MY reasons.

All too often, I see people making statements about what they believe, why they believe it & then they demolish the validity of their personal perspective by insisting that it is the measure of someone ELSE'S validity! These people usually get to pounding that pulpit of condemnation when they feel like they have been measured by another & found to be lacking. What always amazes me is how vociferously they deny the perspicacity of the other person's opinion of them, all while they are insisting that theirs is the ONLY opinion by which ANYone can be measured.

Lemme ask you all this -- IF you feel that no one else BUT you can define you, then how hypocritical is it to insist that YOU can define someone else? Another question -- IF you must repeatedly attempt to tear down the validity of another's opinion, then how can you expect anyone to believe that the opinion of others is SO unimportant to you? If it WAS "unimportant" I'd bet you wouldn't spend SO much energy trying to invalidate it!

I do think it is possible to measure & judge others within the scope of my own experiences. I do not think I am going to be infallible, however. My experiences, like everyone else's, are limited, & hence my understanding is also limited. Does that mean I will abdicate ALL responsibility for my life & just accept anything & anyone on faith?? Absolutely not! I try hard to gather information from as many sources as possible, & from the full spectrum of opinion - good to bad, before I make a choice or judgment. When I am wrong, & yes, I am at times ( I KNOW this is hard for some of you to believe! ;-D), I study my errors thoroughly in an effort to ensure that I do NOT make such a mistake again. To me, those mistakes, from which I have learned, are the marks on MY yardstick by which I can measure my life & my progress as a human being. I wonder about those people who never make mistakes -- what the hell do they measure themselves with? A blank yardstick?? Or maybe they use someone else's yardstick & never seem to measure up? Maybe that's why they are SO defensive when judged by those who have a well-marked yardstick?

Measure your OWN life with your OWN yardstick! Your yardstick cannot measure the life of another. It was not marked by their life's lessons & so cannot measure their life. Another's life can ONLY be measured by THEIR yardstick!

Food for thought:

~"The real contest is always between what you've done and what you're capable of doing. You measure yourself against yourself and nobody else."~Geoffrey Gaberino