//"Judging from afar"//

Introduction

Sometimes, we judge people based on our past experiences or encounters with people, having this thought in mind that "the previous person was like this or maybe behaved this way", without acknowledging the fact that people think, reacts and acts differently.
This illusion corrupts our minds towards what we feel about others making us see everyone as being the same. The whole problem lies in generalization, we jump into conclusions easily. What you see about people may not be as it seem.

To be realistic and naturalized, it do happen that the impression you have about someone happens to be true but that doesn't mean we should just generalize it to everyone. People's mindsets are different and so is their attributes.
God alone deserves all the credit, because he knew very well that if everyone reasons the same way that life won't move forward. It will be stagnant because there will be no new ideas, everybody Will just feel that life should be as it is. Buy God forsaw all of these and made amendments by giving everyone different thoughts at a particular time in life.

Moving forward to the hints commemorating and governing the contest:

Have you judged someone wrongly before, tell us your story?

I have judged people wrongly countless times but I will point out the most unique one.
It is often said that "we shouldn't judge a book by its cover". But Yes! I have, and it changed my perception and outlook on people. I discovered that, there's more to an individual's personality, beyond the obvious. I want to share a story on how I wrongly judged a person.

I can remember when I travelled to my sister's house to stay over the weekend. I went out during the day to a supermarket to get the necessary things I needed. On returning, I was about opening the gate to go in, I looked back, I guess that's part of my lifestyle. As I looked back, I saw a man standing across the road with a very tattered appearance, his hair was not well kept and his clothes torn. I thought to myself " He should be a cultist, now suffering the repercussions of selling his soul to the devil". I judged him based on his Outlook and assumed he was there waiting to cause one trouble or the other.

Later that evening, I stepped out again with my sister, but this time to the market to buy foodstuffs. The first kiosk we entered was the man's. The man came out with the same clothes I saw him on and beckoned with his hand without words to come in. At that time, I already thought to myself, "I was right, I'm sure he just got in here because the owner stepped out". But surprising as we went in, he seemed focused and organized, I won't lie, I was shocked.

So my sister gave me the list and went into get other stuffs inside the market. To clear my doubt, I decided to chat with him a little while he was still sorting out the things we needed, I discovered he is a graduate of civil engineering, who just signed out of a university and was there helping his mom before he would go to serve his country. I felt guilt burning inside of me at my initial judgement.

This was a guy who appeared disorganized on the outside but was intelligent on the inside. As we felt more comfortable with each other, our conversation flowed more easily, I learnt about the perseverance and hardships he went through in school and here I was being inspired by his tenacity and endurance.
I thanked him for the motivation when my sister returned as we parted ways.

Do you think it is right to judge someone because of the appearance without knowing what that person is up to ?

I think it is very wrong to judge someone without knowing what that person is up to. Just take a look at the little story I narrated above, had it been I didn't have a one on one encounter with him, I wouldn't have known that he is filled with intellects and to crown it all, a graduate.
Not only that, someone might dress or appear anyhow because of what he or she is doing at the moment.

Take for instance I want to go to farm, you don't expect me to dress in cooperate and wear fragrances, I just wear simple stuffs or maybe clothes I don't wear occasionally.
So, if someone happens to see me in that state, he or she will just conclude I'm mentally ill, "no", it doesn't make any sense.

What did you do when you realize that you were judging someone wrongly?

Well, I knew it won't be nice to work up to the person to apologise and besides the person wasn't even aware of my thoughts about him or her. So, in this case I blamed myself for judging and judging and jumping into conclusions when I wasn't supposed to and then I resolved within myself to change such lifestyle and clear such impressions about people

Do you think people appearance matters?

I don't think it is right to judge a person by their appearance because, appearance or whatever behavior a person exhibits does not clearly define a person's personality, it is whatever is inside that matters. I think we should change our perception and get to know them first rather than judging them without knowing what they've gone through or what they are up to.

Conclusion

It dawned on me that, judging people based on their appearance can lead to a lost opportunity.
Since that day, I encouraged myself to look beyond the obvious. I realized that everybody has a tale and history behind every character one exhibits which tends to inspire others. That experience taught me to approach people with more curiosity other than judging them from their appearance.

**I invite @edu-chemist, @nsijoro and @bossj23 to participate

Do have a great day