Being Nonjudgmental

I have had some pretty big self judgements around my fitness level. This weekend I went on a weekend-long hike with my brother and overcame a lot of these judgements.

One thing that helped was just being really conscious of my judgements and recognizing them, and then telling them I did not need them; that they weren't realistic or helpful. I reminded myself that where I am is perfect, and that I can have wants while still loving where I am.

Another thing that was incredibly helpful was my wonderful brother.

 

He is an amazing mountain climber with some great adventures under his belt. (Yep, this picture is really of him!)

I suspect that the parts of our weekend that I found extremely strenuous, he found a nice mild stretching exercise. If you were to compare our levels of fitness and experience... well, there just is no comparison (much like a NASA rocket and the nose of a hound dog). 

And yet, I never sensed frustration from him at all (or any of the other emotions, like disgust, that I have sometimes felt for myself but suspect never even crossed his mind). His example of how to be supportive and nurturing, yet realistic, was a great way for me to learn about how to do it for myself.

I doubt that I'm now completely and forever done with judging myself, but this weekend was a great step towards that!