You Just Never Know

I realized many years ago that life is a series of decisions. In the beginning, Adam and Eve were gifted with the power of choice, and for a while they used good judgement and made many good decisions… there was that one time when they used really bad judgement, and it has haunted them (and us) ever since!

But here we are, with the power to choose, to decide, and to judge everything (and everyone for that matter) all day long. It is a necessary evil, but not necessarily evil. I think the difference might be in when we judge, and not why we judge.

Let me give you an example. My wife bid on a round of golf at the exclusive Shady Canyon Golf Club in Irvine at a charity auction. It was expensive, but the money was going to charity and she and I love to golf. We ended up winning the bid and were contacted by the Member who donated the round. I was glad to get a chance to play golf at such a prestigious golf course, but then I found out we would have to play with the Member and not on our own. When I found out the Member was 76 years old, my first thought was, “This guy is either going to be a really slow-moving oldster, or he’s going to be one of those rich, arrogant guys, who looks down his nose at us “public” riff raff golfers. And in my infinite wisdom I was thinking this may not be very much fun. But then again, I was prejudging someone I had never met, and that’s a bad decision on my part.

The gentleman that joined us for golf, we’ll call him “Mister B”, was absolutely amazing! He was polite, courteous, and helpful when we arrived. He toured us around the facility, cracking clever jokes, smiling and shaking hands with everyone we came across. He was obviously well liked, and well known, and when we started playing golf, I discovered that he’s also one hell of a golfer. The man shot 39 on the front nine alone, while focusing on us and providing us with entertainment and golf tips all along the way. It was one of the most enjoyable rounds of golf I have ever experienced, and it was totally due to the kindness and over-the-top attention shown to us by Mister B.

But that wasn’t all. After the round we sat down for a few minutes and Mister B told us about his passion for doing charity work and especially anything that involves helping children. He then asked my wife about her charity that provides clothing and essentials for foster children and before we had even gotten up from the table, Mister B had given my wife a very generous donation for her charity. Wow! I could not have been more wrong about someone, and I learned something. We should never “prejudge” anyone before we meet them, because people are like a box of chocolates, you just never know what you’re gonna get!

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

~ Wayne Dyer