Judging others

Quote for the day.

"No one can judge another for, when another is judged you are yourself condemned"

The first picture was taken during the wheelchair basket game. The women players were tough and aggressive!!

This picture of the Forbidden City was taken during my third visit since 2001. It was a blue sky day in Beijing...something quite surprising under normal circumstances. But it was the season after the Olympics but during the Paralympics. Due credit must be given to the authorites for their efforts to improve the air quality of Beijing during that time.

I had the opportunity to witness some of the events of the paralympics. The performance of the wheelchair basketball players, the floor softball players, the blind judo wrestlers, and the wheelchair atheletes demonstrated their determination in overcoming their physical challenges to attain such high standards to qualify for competitive sport. It was an eye-opener for me.

During this visit to the Forbidden City, I chatted with the mother of an Australian wheelchair basketball player. Her son lost the use of his legs in an accident when he was in his teens. He went through much heartache and depression. But moral support and motivation restored faith in himself. His achievement up to the highest level of competitive sport is testimony that all obstacles can be overcome.

Very often we are quick to pass judgement on others' actions without first checking out the circumstances. We often take people at face value. It will be useful for us to follow the attribution theory by trying to attribute others' behaviour to external factors. By so doing we give the other person the benefit of the doubt.


My message today is to be kind when judging others lest we ourselves be condemned.