12.01.2004

"Objective towards oneself"

Once upon a time, I was reading in the The Journals of Soren Kierkegaard (a mid-19th century Danish philosopher) and found this passage, which I came across again today:
The majority of men are subjective towards themselves and objective towards others, terribly objective sometimes- but the real task is in fact to be objective towards oneself and subjective towards all others

How often we judge ourselves subjectively- believing we can't do this or that or aren't good enough or pretty enough or smart enough, when in actuality, we are fine and normal, although our self esteem may say otherwise. And then we go and objectify others, commenting on their looks or grades and putting them in a stereotype box based on the few facts we know about them. There is danger in both these views.
Lately I've been down on myself because I've been looking at myself subjectively. I've taken criticism badly, I suppose, and believed things about myself that probably aren't true in an objective sense. I thank God for the honest encouragers in my life that put my head on straight when I need it and remind me what is important.
I'm also thankful for the people that break the mold, surprise me, and remind me that I need to give more grace to others and not 'box them up' so quickly.

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