We heard this statement many many times before, but I really wonder how much we understand it or act by it if ever.

It was always advised and preached that we need information before we pass a judgment because if we don’t get the information needed, our judgment might be all wrong. Just how many times we dismissed people from our lives just because they did not look beautiful enough, tall enough, handsome enough, think enough … etc.???

How many times we said to ourselves that the man driving next to us is a complete idiot? how many times we whispered that someone was dumb or stupid?

Seriously; how can you tell if someone is dumb just by passing next to them in the street? How can you decide if someone is classy by one glimpse their way? How can you determine if someone is educated without talking to them? really; how can you tell?

It seems that we are becoming a part of the plastic world despite all our attempts to stay original and level headed. The media is forcing certain images down our throats and we are falling for them like suckers, to the extent that these false images have become the standard and everyone have to live up to them somehow!!

Guys want to marry Haifas and Nancys and girls are dreaming of Brad Pitt and George Clooney … A reality check is in order here … these people come from a dreamland that does not have places for real people like us and no matter how hard we try, guys will end up with very normal girls that look or act nothing like the divas in his head and girls will eventually marry a cousin, a neighbor, a college or school sweetheart, a colleague or even a groom coming her way in the most traditional ways, so why the impossible comparison anyway?? It will only bring heartache and misery to you and will keep you in a dream state … the problem is that when you finally wake up, you will realize that you missed out on so many things just because you were putting a standard that was too high for a normal person to live up to …

We have become really superficial and cynical … so what if we don’t like what the girl walking down the street is wearing? why do we assume that someone is not good enough to do something just because they don’t look the part? why do we think that someone is incompetent just because he did not have the privilege to study abroad? why do we believe that if someone is not living in an elite suburbia, then he is ibn shaware3? How did we come to be so shallow???

It is true that some people are gifted and can tell from body language, or appearance what the person behind them is like, but this is not the rule; actually this is the exception.
It is also true that first impressions tell a lot about the person and his personality … but how many times did we come to realize that we made a mistake just after more encounters with the same person??

The point is; appearances are deceiving and are false promotions whether negative or positive, more often than not, they do not really reflect reality unless we scratch the surface a little bit and dig deeper.

When I think of this issue, Suzanne Boyle always comes to my mind, when she came on that stage and everyone was laughing at her, everyone was cynical when this 47 years old lady wanted to make her dream come true, and for some reason, everyone in the audience including the three judges assumed that she was not even capable of having a talent, and boy oh boy, how Suzanne surprised them and the whole world when she opened her mouth and started singing … this always brings sadness to my heart and tears to my eyes, because think just how many times she went through the same experience and how many times she was not taken seriously because she does not look the part … and think of how many times we were in her shoes!!!

If you want to see that amazing performance one more time, please visit this link because for some reason, the embedding code is not available … I guess it is not a big deal

Maybe if we start putting ourselves in people’s shoes more often … we would not be that shallow and will actually read a few pages or maybe a few lines from the book before we judge it …