Judge not, that ye be not judged...

We know the power of thoughts create.... Consider, then, the impact of our judgments. When we judge someone critically, those judgments have the power to affect the one being judged, if they are open to our perceptions. This is the case even when we don’t say what we’re thinking.
For example, if I judge someone to be fat, and that individual perceives him or herself to be fat and is sensitive to the opinions of others, my thoughts will reinforce their ‘fat’ experience.
Being aware of the impact of our judgments helps us let go of our tendency to judge.
“There are three kinds of violence: one, through our deeds; two, through our words; and three, through our thoughts. …The root of all violence is in the world of thoughts, and that is why training the mind is so important.”
-- Eknath Easwaran

Optimistic...

Before my father passed away my sister Bonnie was visiting with us and helping out my mother and father during the last difficult days. During that time she got me a CD with some spiritually uplifting songs. At the time I just kind of rolled my eyes and was like "thanks sis". BUT I started listening to it on my drive to take my daughter Susanna to her church class in the morning, and then when I take the boys to school, and some of the songs on there have touched me. With all that is going on in the world right now it's nice to take some time every morning and listen to music that uplifts and encourages. I would like to share some of the words of one of the songs that I like best.

"...you've got a feeling there is more than living life this way. I want to show you reality that you've never seen
There is
More love than we can imagine
There is more peace than we'll ever know
It's more than we dream
More than we've seen or heard of before
There is more

Instead of dreaming
You're trying to keep yourself alive
And make it through another day
Though it's not easy, believe me
There's a reason why
You're here to discover all that's in store
That's what we came here for

More power
More mercy
More hope than ever thought possible
More life in me
More life in you"

It is these little moments every day that I feel very optimistic about my future,.... OUR future!