Just the Facts

Thoughts--those little bursts of electricity that twinkle throughout my mind both consciously and subconsciously--affect the way I experience and interact with the world around me.

So nowadays, whenever I catch myself passing judgment on others, on events, on myself, I try to STOP.
Instead of following that line of thinking, I try to allow the judgmental thoughts to dissolve away.

My goal is to focus instead on the observable facts at hand. 

"The phone is ringing" is the observable fact. "Telemarketers are terrible people and they always call at dinnertime" is the judgmental thought. 

"I feel sad" is the fact. "I shouldn't feel sad... I have no reason to mope around" is the judgmental thought.

 "It is snowing" is the observable fact. "Spring is NEVER going to come" is the judgmental thought. 

Little by little, choice by choice, I am increasingly successful at replacing judgmental thinking with mindful thinking. I'm far from 100% successful. However, during those times when I'm unsuccessful, I've found it helpful to heed advice from my DBT therapist: "Don't judge your judging."