The Execution of Judgement and Critical Analytical Thinking

Abandon all hope you who enter here. – Dante

Dante said this of a man who was about to venture into the underworld, to take a journey under the shadow of death, guided by the dispossessed. It is a good story, and it is a warning for those on the threshold of life as well, for the world is dangerous place and there is not a single one of us who does not make the journey in the dark, buffeted by the unseen, the unexpected and the unknown. 

There is a consequences for everything we do, the repercussions of our actions are like the fruit of the vine; each morsel ripening in the sun, and filled with a thousand tiny seeds.

The consequences flowing from the simplest things we do are innumerable. They flow out from us, and away from us, slipping over the horizon, past the vanishing point, beyond the constraints of our time on Earth.

It is naïve to believe that our choices, that the actions we have committed, even the seemingly smallest things, it is naïve to believe that they do not have the potential to shape the fate of the world and the future of humanity.

Being an actor in the world is a consequential matter, but not a hopeless one; approach the role with caution, treat it with care.

Gather all courage you who enter here.

As human beings, each and every day we are faced with a multiplicity of choices, the majority of which take place on an unconscious level. So much so that they do not seem like choices at all, they are determined by habit, by impulse, by routine behavior, such as: the way in which we greet people, or the way in which we say goodbye, how we pour a glass of water, or how we lift a fork from off our plates.

Note well, every decision we make becomes a part of the eternal record of our lives, our choices are like energy pouring into a wave, like the wind our choices push us toward our future, or alternately, drag us to our end. Our actions determine who we are, they shape the world around us, each and every choice playing its part while adding to the life of every other person in our sphere of influence as well, and that is everyone.

We are co-creators of the world we live in, our thoughts and words, our deeds, our triumphs and tragedies, our mundane routines condition all our relationships, every single one, both the known and the unknown, and our environment as well, the totality in sum.

Examine everything.  

The decisions we make on the unconscious level are choices we arrive at through behavior patterns we learned from specific experiences we had early in our lives, when we did not have the critical skills to question their utility, and the patterns for those choices were laid down like track for a railroad.

Those patterns of behavior are programmed by family, church and school, through our relationships with our friends and peers, by radio and television, and through our extended digital-social networks.

Many of the patterns we inherit are themselves the unconscious, unexamined, uncritical habits of the people who raised us and had the most influence on our upbringing.

We participate in this programming through our fears and desires. As children our participation is more passive than active, but as we get older, learn more, become autonomous and self-purposive, a shift takes place and the programming we entertain is more actively a matter of our own determination.

In order to execute our own judgement, to be free from the coercion of these influences we must be able to comprehend their nature. We must know how our programming benefits us, and whether or not our programming facilitates a greater or lesser understand of what is real and true.

We must be able to step outside of ourselves to see them clearly, at times we will need the help of others to do this.

We must subject ourselves to scrutiny at all times, our judgement must be examined and re-examined in a constant process of reflection so that we may determine for ourselves how we will face the repercussions that arise from our choices, even the most miniscule, seemingly inconsequential choices that we make.

When we become aware that we have been programmed, we must then take responsibility for that programming; we must rewrite the code.

Critical analysis is the most important factor in the process of personal growth.

Critical, analytical, thinking…listening, and feeling…

By judging the impact of our choices in direct relation to their impact on the world, the environment and our relationships, we enhance our ability to ensure success in whatever goals we set for ourselves.

A person must feel the impetus to fulfill their potential, feel it rising within them, and master every tool at their disposal: memory, strength, speed, dexterity, creativity, empathy, they must learn to observe and listen, learn to communicate with the heart and the head both, to cultivate patience as a precursor to understanding.

Develop the relationships that will propel you toward the end you seek; to propel you as you launch and assist you in your landing.

If we have the ability to judge the circumstances we find ourselves in, to see the whole picture and judge it according to its inherent values, if we are able to see the world as it truly is, we can prepare ourselves to respond to it with the requisite alacrity, confidence and certainty.

When we know the truth about ourselves, we will see every other person within us, everyone a part of us, no matter how far they are removed from us in time and space; past present and future are gathered together in the locus of each and every individual

You are the center of the universe, as am I, we are one, and the good of one becomes the good of all.