Become Indifferent

“Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge.” ~ Carl Jung

As humans we judge everything as either “good” or “bad.” Judging is our minds way of creating a better than or less than scenario to define a person, thing, or situation. But what if we learned to remove the judgment and allow people, things, and situations to just be? To be as they are, and we become indifferent to it. Wouldn’t that be easier? Can you imagine the weight that would be lifted if we stopped judging and categorizing everyone and everything as either “good” or “bad”?

Judgments are conditional and based solely on individual perspective. What one may see as “good,” another could view as “bad.” For example, a farmer likely sees rain for his crops during a dry summer as a “good” thing. But a bride on her wedding day, will likely see that same rain as “bad.” Judgments of people, things, or situations are up to the eyes of the beholder. Remove the judgment on the rain and view it as it was meant to rain and no number of praises or curses to the rain gods will change it.

Having strong judgments in either direction causes uncertainty, anxiety, anger, sadness, joy, excitement, etc. But being indifferent keeps you balanced. It doesn’t matter what the weather is, who you are with, what deadlines are looming, or the date of your next big event. You take it all in stride, take it just as it unfolds and know it’s exactly as it’s meant be.

We’ve all had sunny days and we’ve all had gray days. We’ve all had ups and we’ve all had downs. But it’s our judgement as those either being “good” or “bad” that cause us to feel a certain way. And often, we allow those feelings to carry us away. Our minds travel down a negative path or a positive one depending on how we are judging. But if we stop and realize it doesn’t matter; it’s exactly how it’s meant to be, we’ve stopped our judging mind from taking control. And in that moment, we become indifferent to the person, thing, or situation.

Judgment is an instinct. We all do it consciously and unconsciously many times each day. Even if we are self-aware enough to realize we are judging – we still judge. It’s natural tendency for the human mind to wonder to the negative and expect the worst or get excited and have expectations. And there’s nothing wrong with that. You can’t get mad at your own mind, but you can train it to become indifferent. You begin to look for the basics of a person, thing, or situation and accept it for what it is, not what you want it to be, expect it to be, or think it should have been.

Judging is easy and requires zero reasoning or effort. Becoming indifferent, however isn’t easy and does require conscious effort (and patience). You don’t have to lie to yourself, pretend things are different or that you like someone or something you don’t. The intent is not to make the jump from judging someone or something as “bad” to “good” because that too is judgment. And judgment is what you are working to remove. The intent is to become indifferent.

When you become indifferent to people, things, and situations, you find balance. And when your thoughts are balanced, your emotions will follow. You will no longer experience lows or highs. Those that know you may notice a difference and those that don’t will likely see you as a peaceful person. Some may even say you are emotionless, don’t care, or describe you as a quiet individual. None of the above are accurate (and who cares if they were). You’re balanced!