What is a "Judge Free" Zone Anyway?

The thought of a Judge-Free Zone occurred to me after having a good friend and "fellow blogger" welcome me to the "world of Blogging" where I too can be judged by others. I wish it was different, but unfortunately it is very true. No matter how much we desire to just be creative, expressive, and thought-provoking, the truth is the readers will make a decision if they liked the content or if it was a waste of their time. At times the reader will be kind enough to share their judgment with others thru comments, and sometimes not, but you can always count on them having an opinion.

Opinions are like noses.......everybody has one!

The "Judge Free Zone" is a term used by the fitness club which I am currently a member and paying monthly dues to, and therefore helping to keep them in business. Planet Fitness-"A Judge-free Zone". That in itself is interesting! Why would anyone go to a gym for judgement anyway? I think it is pretty obvious why we would be there!

If you think about it, too many areas of our lives are constantly being judged by others. For instance, I am "single again" and also in the "dating" circuit which, by the way, is more fun than going to the dentist. No matter how you slice it, each new date it is inevitable that a decision will be made on both our parts. For instance, are we are compatible, enjoyable, pleasant, and "attractive" enough to spend time with again.

Another example is jobs and job interviews. We are constantly selling ourselves by our performance and qualifications. And then there is "Peer pressure" which is just a fancy phrase for trying to live up to the judgment of others. Bottom line is everyday our goals are focused to avoid complaints and negative criticism. Here's another new phrase we have to worry and be judged by, "political correctness". We cannot express our free speech rights because we may offend someone. Do these same people care if they are offending me? I don't think so! I am often offended by their openness, opinions and actions.

Our own children attempt to judge whether we are good parents, and likewise the parents are judging the children. I must admit that some of my special moments in life are when my son tells me what an awesome Mom I am.

And now I live in a neighborhood with the "HOA" police which tell me if I am not living up to the "Covenant". They send me warnings and ultimately fines if I have too many yard objects in the front of my house, if my garbage can is left out by the street too many days, if my bushes are dead and need to be replaced, and my personal favorite is when a holiday wreath remains on my front door past the allotted 30 days following the holiday observance.

.... we are judged if we are green-enough, whether we wear white before Easter, if we are size-appropriate, if we recycle the correct way (I just learned that you are not supposed to recycle the bottle caps on cokes because hard plastic is not recyclable), whether we prefer CNN or Fox News network, what type of music we prefer, and our taste in home decor and arts.

That is why I love my puppy Chloe so much! She loves me no matter what I look like, what I say, or who my friends are. All I have to do is brush her, feed her, pet her and give her shelter, which are all basics to life. There is something to be learned from Chloe in that we, as a society, continue to get far from the basics of life.

The Truth is God is the only Judge who really matter! We often worry the least amount on what He desires and what He thinks of our daily activities. For a long time I struggled with the fact that Jesus said the greatest commandment is to Love God with all your heart, and the second is to Love others as yourself. But if you stop and think about it, if we were to focus only on these two commandments on a daily basis, all other things would fall into place! We would love each other more, and judge them less. All of our other priorities would fall into place effortless.

Thanks for sharing Deb'sWorld today and hope you visit again soon.

P.S. Please indicate below how much you enjoyed this BLOG and leave comments so I can improve on my next one :)