What is clean?

There are so many short stories that warn us about the dangers in judging others.

I’ve been on the receiving end of being wrongfully judged more times than I can count, and sadly, I have had my moments where I have been the one to pass judgement – although as I have aged, these moments have become much less, I am relieved to say.

A friend of mine updated her Facebook status with a little story. It went like this :

A young couple moved into a new neighborhood.

The next morning while they were eating breakfast, the young woman saw her neighbor hanging the washing outside. “That laundry is not very clean; she doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.”

Her husband looked on, remaining silent.

Every time her neighbor hung her washing out to dry, the young woman made the same comments.

A month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband, “Look, she’s finally learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this?”

The husband replied, “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.”

And so it is with life… What we see when watching others depends on the clarity of the window through which we look.

So don’t be too quick to judge others, especially if your perspective of life is clouded by anger, jealousy, negativity or unfulfilled desires.

“Judging a person does not define who they are. It defines who you are.”“

~ Jonathan Kestenbaum

It immediately made me glance at my lounge windows, and I was horrified to see that they are definitely in need of a clean. I found myself then carefully considering whether or not I had unfairly judged anyone of late, and ended up lost in thought for the better part of an hour.

I thought I would share this little story with you…. just in case your windows need cleaning too. 😉