“Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, ‘Grow, grow.” The Talmud 

Imagine that you are a blade of grass, and that the angel whispering over you is your internal voice. Imagine how lovely, gentle, and free from judgement that whisper would feel if all you were encouraged to do was ‘grow.’ Imagine the love and patience that you would have for yourself in everything you do.

Yet for so many of you, that whispering ‘angel’ sounds more like a screaming demon. It is the merciless judgement, the berating, and the complaints that you endure from one day to the next. These constant critical thoughts about what you should have said or done create sorrow, shame, and fear. These feelings can keep you stuck and lead to a sense of hopelessness.

Want to rid yourself of judgement?

All of your HIGHER LEARNING is in your ability to BECOME THE OBSERVER without judgement @Terri_Cole (Click to Tweet!)

When you judge yourself and the world less, your ability to thrive and take advantage of opportunities, increases. Easier said than done, I know. Though, just as with anything, the more you practice observing the more of a habit it will become. Yet for most people, the idea of simply observing thoughts and behavior, especially when triggered by something or someone, may feel impossible. So start small.

Learn how small steps can lead you to your big goals.

Make a daily commitment to observe by setting aside several minutes a few times a day, to simply notice. Look around the space that you are in, check in with your body and the way you are sitting or standing, take notice of the thoughts that have been occupying your mind and bring your attention to your breath. Practice doing all of this from a curious, rather than critical, mindset.

Notice what you notice. Question your behavior to gain a deeper understanding of yourself. If you’ve been on FaceBook for the last thirty minutes when you know you have work to do, make an inquiry into, why. Get interested in the fact that you just ate your lunch so fast that you barely remember what it was. What is underneath those behaviors?

When you approach everything you do with a sense of curiosity and interest you create mental space for not only awareness, but adjustment.  Once you understand why you do the things you do, you are then in a position to make a different choice. I find that if you can exercise this ability, it will lead to some of the most important information that you will learn about why you are the way you are and how you are being in the world. This knowledge creates the choice to change what you don’t like.

Observing without judgement has been a game changing tool for me that I learned at The Chopra Center many years ago (Thank you Deepak!) Being mindfully aware enough to observe yourself takes time but just like anything the more you do, the better you get. In order to get started right now I want to invite you to leave a comment below about what you notice in this moment. Try and leave out judgment, good or bad, and simply state what you observed.

Then, throughout this week feel free to post on my FaceBook page the moments you want to share when you chose observation over judgement. We’re in this together, and I look forward to cheering you on like a wild maniac!

As always, take care of you.

Love Love Love

Terri

Terri Cole is a licensed psychotherapist, transformation coach, and an expert at turning fear into freedom. Sign up for Terri’s weekly Tune Up Tips and follow her on Twitter.

Image courtesy of Chris Potter