Something quite funny happened today, not funny ha!ha!, but funny as in making me rethink my core values and how I judge a situation or person based on them.
So here is what happened:  I am coming home from work on my beloved scooter, just enjoying the ride.  I get to a red light and come to a stop near a motorcyclist, I look over towards him, and there he is, on his big motorcycle smoking a cigarette.  Somehow, my brain just glitched, I could not comprehend the image and therefore found myself blankly staring in absolute confusion at what was before me.  Of course, it didn't take too long before he stared back at me with this "What do you want?" look of annoyance.  I quickly reconnected and looked away just as the light changed and our world separated again.
As I rode away, I started thinking about this image and how I felt it was an absolutely waste to be riding a bike while smoking.  Then, it came to me to question my reaction, why is it that I find it incomprehensible that someone would make such a choice? Barring the obvious, smoking is bad for you, why was I so perturbed?
I then had to figure out why I love riding motorcycles and scooters so much.  My first thought was, I can breath better when I am on a bike. With age and wisdom, I have been slowly coming to the realization I have air anxieties, I regularly feel like there is not enough air around me and in a car, that is a problem for me.  Obviously, not an issue on a 2 wheeled motorized open vehicle! So this was it, my big confusion with this man and his cigarette was that he was challenging this very big reason I love riding, the amazing amount of air I get when I ride.  As far as I was concerned he was ruining the best part of riding, but who am I to place this value on him?  Maybe his favorite part of riding is the fact he can smoke to his heart's content and not end up getting busted by his wife because the fresh air of the ride prevented his clothes from smelling of cigarette? Who knows?  Certainly not me!
Which then opened the question; how often do I unconsciously judge a patient's or student's choices based on my own likes, dislikes and wonderful little neurosis'? I am going to guess many, many times, if not all the time.
So how do we, as educators, healthcare practitioners, fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers and just plain humans keep that in check?
Right now, I am thinking with regular check-in sessions with ourselves and questioning our reactions, good and bad to different situations and people.   Forcing a reevaluation of our value system as we go along our merry way in this complicated life journey!
Just a thought that occurred to me on my ride home, one of the other reason I love motorcycles and scooters so much, it is a mini meditation and refocus session every time I go for a ride.