I read an article not long ago in the Huffington Post by Mike Robbins titled “We’re All Doing The Best We Can.” He quoted Louise Hay when she said “It’s important to remember that people are always doing the best they can, including you.” His article, and particularly Louise Hay’s quote, really struck me and it will forever remain in the back of my head as I go through life.
It is so easy for people to judge others and I truly wish I were an exception to this imperfect way of being, but unfortunately I’m not. When thinking of the many times when I have judged other people in my life I realize that I have not fully understood their predicament because I was not in their “shoes” – so to speak. It’s very easy to make judgement calls from the outside when you yourself are not entrenched in a situation.
How I can people (including myself) remember to be more compassionate toward others who are really doing the best they can at any given moment?
Perhaps we could start by stopping the never ending judging voices that come forward like…”She COULD really be trying harder” or “If he only did it differently then it would be so much better” or “If they only did it my way.” Simply stop – mid judgement – take a breath, and let it go. And I don’t want to hear… “But really, they just need to…” or “She really IS doing it all wrong… .” It doesn’t matter. None of it matters. Just let it go fully and completely.
This is not to say you have to like the situation; you probably don’t. I’m simply asking you to try to take a step back from it with a little bit of compassion remembering that everyone – including you – is truly “doing the best they can.”