I wonder what people think when they meet me for the first time? I wonder what impression I leave them with? Don’t misunderstand me; what people think about me does not keep me up at night, but I wonder if people have a sense of who I really am deep down inside? (If they do, congratulations to them because I don’t even know who I really am deep down inside).
Judging someone based on a first impression is very common, but what exactly are we judging someone on? The way they dress? Their physical appearance? The way they walk? Or do we judge them by our God-given instincts? Some men might say women judge men by the type of vehicle they drive. And women might say, men judge them on their physical attributes.
I had a conversation the other day with a couple of friends about my dating experiences, and they unanimously told me that first impressions are everything. Call me dull, but I never really thought about it that way, but maybe I should. Usually, I judge people based on their actions and the character they present, but maybe I’m going about it all wrong because in the past, it took me a while to believe what I already knew about someone based on how they treated me.
Then again, turn on the news on any given day, and there will be a story or two of someone who misjudged someone else, and the situation ended horribly. And then there are those heartwarming stories where someone had a change of perspective, realized they had misjudged someone, and made amends. Then there is social media, where we judge people based on their photos or the stories they choose to share with others. Which brings me to a side note…has the influence of social media dulled our discernment? (I think it has, but that’s just my opinion.)
Getting back to the topic at hand, we judge people every day. Until now, I didn’t really think about how fast I am to make a judgment on someone else. It’s usually a passing thought, but every time I interact with someone, there is a judgment being made. I’m sure it’s like that for everyone, right? It’s just that people don’t think about it or, at the very least, don’t mention it. I think when it comes to judging people, it’s usually based on our personal experiences. For me, my upbringing was a big deciding factor of my worldview. I was raised to believe there are two types of people, sinners and saints. Since I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realize that the line between the two is not that transparent. I’ve met some very judgmental “saints” and some very righteous “sinners”. In my case, on whether I’m a saint or a sinner…well, let’s just say it depends on the day.
In our world, premature judgments based on others are people’s second nature. Whether we base it on race, sexual identity, sexual preferences, or social status, judgments occur way more than I like to think about. I’m not a big fan of kids, but I will give them credit for being the least judgmental humans there are on the planet. They may have poor manners and dirty hands, but those little snot blowers are some decent beings. I know, I shouldn’t judge them.