Wednesday, November 4, 2015

A Discerning Mind

A more discerning individual is better equipped to make sound judgments.

Discernment means the ability to judge well. Many times people make a poor judgment, not because of ignorance, but because of the lack of insight and discernment. More specifically, what's the difference between judgment and discernment? Can judgment or being judgmental have a right or wrong or moral aspect to it? Do you think discernment frees us from any fear of being wrong? Is discernment more detached, more creative, or free?

Judgment vs. discernment: Is judging a bit archaic and a bit polarized since judgment and discernment are basically used in each other’s definitions, they are quite similar, but there is a difference. Discernment speaks more to using both perception ( experience or intuition) and research/analysis to make the best decision. Being judgmental has more connotations of a preconceived notion based more on pure emotion, and less on an unbiased, situation-based flexible analysis.


Having discernment can free us from the fear of being wrong: The verb ‘discern’ simply means to detect with the senses. Discernment is more about perceptiveness. Why be fearful if you know how to have discernment? We first need to develop an awareness of what the body is sensing and then learn to decode that information. Does your experience show you that there is more freedom when going beyond judgment? Being judgmental has the aspect of something being right or wrong. Another aspect goes into discernment is that there is a sensitivity of the body that can give us feedback on all kinds of situations.


A more discerning individual is better equipped to make sound judgments: We have to develop the tools of a sensitive body and then learn how to "decode" those messages. When you judge something, you form a critical opinion of it based on facts, discerned data, and preconceived notions. Judgment occurs at a conscious level while discernment can sometimes occur at a subconscious level as well. The subconscious stuff is far more valuable because it taps into an "inner knowing." Judgment is hard to walk away from, yet so worthwhile when we learn to set it aside. The judgment does start as protection but then lingers out of habit. As you learn to go beyond patterns, the discovery of how to use discernment allows you to choose your steps that are aligned with your inner, core self, and leverage data-based analytics in order to make sound judgments.

Discernment requires the ability to be the witness in situations, to have the inner knowing that allows for discernment, to develop better sensing tools and then to act from the greater dimension of knowledge, understanding, and awareness. Once we bring awareness to the decision-making process, we can detect differences in discernment and judgment.


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