I found this quote via twitter a few days ago and really liked it. Thanks to @charvoice (Charlene Lewis). Thought I would take a ‘heart series’ break and put this one in the mix.

It’s important for me to always remember that I do not always know the circumstances and background of those around me. I don’t know how they were ‘baked’ in other words. That doesn’t mean I don’t hold them accountable for their actions, it means I don’t assume I know them; their motivations, their opinions or their feelings just because they are in the same room with me, or from the same state.

At my best it means I wait to judge until I know something real about them instead of just thinking they were baked like I was. That short-sightedness leads to the assumption that if they did that ‘thing’ (whatever it is), they must have had the same motivation or reason I would have had if I had done that same ‘thing’. It’s a bad assumption to make.

Anyone who has been married has experienced a spouse not understanding why you do what you do until they meet your family and experience the oven in which you were baked. Then they come home and say ‘NOW I understand why you are like that!’…not always in a nice way, either.

So, before you judge, get to know who it is you are judging, get to understand them. After that, judge away.

Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman

“Everyone is kneaded from that same dough but not baked in the same oven.” – Yiddish Proverb