Are you or anyone you know suffering from a persistent headache? I don’t really have a cure for it. This is just food for thought and to be taken in a lighter vein! 😉
Are You Suffering From A Headache?
A man walked in to a doctor’s office and said, “Doctor, I have this awful headache that never leaves me. Could you give me something for it?”
“I will,” said the doctor, “But I want to check a few things out first. Tell me, do you drink a lot of liquor?”
“I never touch the filthy stuff,” said the man indignantly.
“How about smoking?”
“I think smoking is disgusting. I’ve never in my life touched tobacco.”
“I’m a bit embarrassed to ask this, but…you know the way some men are…do you do any running around at night?”
“Of course not. What do you take me for? I’m in bed every night by ten o’clock at the latest.”
“Tell me,” said the doctor, “this pain in the head you speak of, is it a sharp, shooting kind of pain?
“”Yes,” said the man. “That’s it – a sharp, shooting kind of pain.”
“Simple my dear fellow! Your trouble is you have your halo on a bit too tight.”
Story adapted from Anthony de Mello‘s ‘The Prayer of the Frog’
While having a good laugh as my husband read this out to me, it really struck a chord too.
I began to think of myself when I first had a very deep spiritual experience. I was all of 16 then and somehow, it was so easy for me to start being self-righteous.
I began to judge people according to the choices they made and began to feel that I was better than them all. God help anyone hanging around with certain kind of people, dressing in a certain way, listening to certain music, spending time at certain places. They were not good people and needed to change….
Self-righteous people can be really intolerable and I was fast becoming that. The danger of self-righteousness is that you think you have all the answers.
It took a lot of bad choices on my part to become more open, more accepting and not so judgmental.
Now I smile to myself when I encounter self-righteous people – and keep a watch on my own inclination to act that way.
Very nice post, Corinne.
Hey, I am becoming addicted to everyday gyan. Enjoyed reading it.
On the lighter side, a man went to see the doctor and said – “Doctor, I’ve got a headache 6 inches above my head”. Without hesitating, the Doctor reached into the medicine cabinet, pulled out a bottle of tablets and told the man – “Here – use these tablets – but make sure you take 3 of them 1/2 an hour before you wake up each morning!”….
good advice! xoxox
made me laugh i think at 16 most of us are like that. Life has certainly taught me not to judge others, i believe we are made by what has happened to us in life the good and sadly the bad.
Love the post.
Funny indeed 🙂 Seems it’s human nature to judge others as we all too often ridicule people who are not like us, as I ‘ve gotten older and wiser I’m less likely to judge as “live and let live” is my motto. If it’s not hurting me or harming others then do as you please and folks had better not interfere in my business either. We should all mind our own damm business and expand our tolerance levels instead of worrying about petty stuff others do and this world will be a much better place to live.
Great post! I think that becoming self-righteous is a phenomenon that all should be aware of and take efforts in not becoming a part of. It’s easy when someone first becomes convicted of a belief or philosohpy to start to point fingers at others, holding them to one’s standards and neglecting to see your own shortcomings.. Fortunately, God has a way of humbling us, sometimes it
isn’t always pleasant. One way that I try to maintain a spirit of humily is the first thing I do when I pray is repent and confess my own sins. That reminds me of my own shortcomings and areas I need to work on and makes it more difficult to have a spirit of judging others.
I think this is an important topic. So many people turn others off from the truth because of their attitudes.
Somehow Corinne – your face and that smile says it all. I think I already know who you are…
Oh my. My halo has been smashed on my head lately.
You made me smile today.
Have a good one!
Great story – Great reality check, Corinne. Somehow laughter can really hammer home a concept.
Great one Corinne..I feel as if I am missing out on your posts..everyone does it,making judgements..Here’s to the moments when we didn’t think about right or wrong; where we just lived, crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.
Awesome post Corinne, and very timely! Something every Christian in particular should hear.
How true! And every time I judge, I am faced with the same dilemma in my life from spiritual situations to weight gain to food choices, to child rearing. Excellent thoughts. Thank you.
Self righteousness…been there done that. I was in the deeper life club: ) Thought I had ‘arrived.’ Then got knocked off my horse a time or two and that was it for me. Outstanding message (another stealer).
Loved the joke Corinne and so true! Unfortunately there are so many people walking around with a very tight halo 🙂
I love these little stories – they do make me chuckle and then the inspiration that you part after. I cannot for an instance imagine you being anything but the wonderfully sincere and non judgmental person I have come to know – I think your halo is beautifully polished x
When training under another Life Coach, it became apparent that my biggest weakness, back then, was not to be judgmental, a big no no for a life coach. Once you can remove this from your self, it does produce such phenomenal relationships and attitudes. So i let he halo slip and fall off, and it was amazing how much pressure went with it
Corinne, there are definitely a lot of folks wearing their halo to tight. Thinking back I am not sure I ever had mine to tight… sometimes it was a bit wobbly
Enjoyed the humor at the beginning of your post too.
I am also visiting from the Ultimate Blog Challenge.
The quest to be non-judgmental is an ongoing one. Thanks for the reminder! 🙂
This is so close to my heart Corinne… I’d often encounter those ‘doctors’ in the form of my siblings…or my dad…the closest people to me. They’d call me a priest(ess) because “I sermon a lot” and it would oftentimes, make me really silent… yes, they’d call me ‘self-righteous”… and it truly hurts many times. Silence is mediocrity Corinne…It takes a lot of humility to look at my motivations and allow God to purify them.
I admit that I don’t have all the answers…when people would ask me, I’d tell them let’s search together for the truth…
So, I pray for humility… I often suffer from headaches too… so I let God do His work… and accept His invitation for a lighter burden… 😉
loved this…thanks!