... and yet SO beautiful

Back in the good ol' days when I was a full-pledge christian, I was always taught to not judge others, because we're all sinners.

and we are.

But as I decided to take a break from god, I found myself more and more willing to forgive others for their mistakes. That is to say, that I find myself more accepting of other's mistakes. I think part of it has to do with the fact that I got a DUI. That was a very pleasant experience, I recommend it to anyone with an open-mind and nothing to lose.

But seriously, it was an eye-opening experience. I found myself sitting on a bench, in the police station/holding area in the benton county courthouse, waiting to take my breathalyzer test. The cop was writing stuff down, another one in the back processing paperwork behind the counter, "please keep your hands away from your mouth," doing business like usual, they probably thought.

no more than 5 feet away was me, my mind running through the last 30 minutes of my life over and over again, wondering how I had gotten there; wondering how this will affect my potential career as a pharmacist; wondering if I would be jailed, and if so, for how long; wonder how I had become a "criminal" in the span of half an hour. "I haven't even attended my first class yet," I thought.

You really don't understand how much you have to lose, until you're on the verge of losing it all.

sometimes, sadly, after you've lost something.

some people look at you differently after they find out you're a DUI. You really find out who are your friends after you go through something like that. There are those that look at you different, like "I knew there was something about you I didn't like, and now I knew I was right". There also those that offer their condolences, and how bad they feel about it; then there are those that offer help w/o you asking, they do whatever they can think of and offer you possible solutions, even if they're not good, but they try anyways, because they just want to help.

Some people do stick with you through thick and thin. It's beautiful.

Other things have happened besides the DUI, but in general, I've been more forgiving of others who make a "mistake". It's actually easier than you think to dig yourself into a sticky situation, and I don't think most people know that. What I really have a problem with, is those christians that judge other's "sinfullness" as if they are not sinners themselves. The world is not as simple and easy for every, and some people don't understand that because they've been sheltered all their lives.

Of course, I'm not just talking about christians here, but true christians REALLY SHOULD KNOW BETTER, which is why I really have a problem with that. I'm sure people judge others all the time, and I do it too; i think it's hard not to, but I do think that the majority of us could benefit a lil from being a lil less judgmental. It really isn't that hard to make a mistake, and lucky for us, most of the mistakes we make are rather harmless. But there are those mistakes that stay with you for the rest of your life, and believe it or not, some of them are not that hard to make.

It's only human to err.

So take it easy on your friend who did something stupid that he/she will regret. Be supportive. Be positive. Take it easy on the next guy that you think have a vacuum machine stuck up his ass, maybe he really is having the shittiest day ever.

Take a step back, a deep breath, and don't let it bother you again.

Because life is too short...