Look past the hat to see the person

This is Rocky. Don’t let the name mislead you. Rocky is terrified of our 8 pound cat so there’s no hint of Rocky Balboa in him.

Rocky is latest in a long line of rescues that we’ve been blessed with on our little farmstead. Rocky is more pathologically obsessed with food than any creature we’ve ever rescued, including the nearly 30 hungry dogs who have preceded him. It’s our guess that in a previous home he was severely deprived and now has canine PTSD.

Rocky is like most of the people you will ever meet. He is carrying around emotional baggage and trauma from the past that you will never know about and that he will never speak about.

So before you judge someone based on their name or their appearance or their behavior, remind yourself that they might deserve greater understanding, appreciation, and sympathy on your part.

Please watch this 3-minute video “What’s in a Hat?” that I recorded in Sedona a while back. It will give you a new perspective on just how insidious judgmentalism can be.