Is There a Better Way?

Some people are so judgmental! They have opinions about everything and are quick to judge.

I kind of tend to avoid these people. Especially the ones who seem to have hidden agendas. Are we not supposed to love our neighbors? Were we not told to judge not, lest we be judged? And this quote also comes to mind:  “…first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

One would so like to point out the scriptural points above to these individuals, but…for those who really need to hear, the words would fall on deaf ears. Besides, doing so would cause me to be viewed as proud, haughty, and to be as judgmental as they.

I am not a confrontational kind of person. I do not like conflict. I do not have any desire to pick a fight with any of these people. However, I do try to quietly turn the situation around. Either I attempt to play “devil’s advocate” and suggest reasons someone might have said or done the things they did, or I try to find something positive about the person or the action. Perhaps, in the long run, (fill in the blank) was needed.

My methods won’t change the world and all its negativity, but I’m hopeful that they cause some folks to realize that there are other ways to look at whatever or whoever was the focus of their comment. No, it may not change a single thing…but it affords me a method for controlling my immediate environment when it borders on the intolerable, and a more positive way of co-existing with those around me who sometimes seem to rub me the wrong way. How do YOU deal with negativity?