Daily Inspiration 5-1-10

The Best Is Yet To Come

Optimism Week

"Optimism - the doctrine or belief that everything

is beautiful, including what is ugly."

-- Ambrose Bierce

"Weeds are flowers too--once you get to know them."

-- A. A. Milne

"To the artist, there is never anything ugly in nature."

--Auguste Rodin

Just as optimism is a point of view, so is what is ugly. Some of my favorite plants are what most call 'weeds.' One man's junk is another man's treasure. Look on the horizon, or look at the cracks in the sidewalk. What you see is what you get. It's all just your particular point of view. And, it's not right or wrong, it is how you CHOOSE to see it. Yes, choose. It isn't there because it's there, it's there because you choose to see it there. That's another way of saying we create our own reality. We absolutely do.

The pessimists of the world are always looking at what is wrong, what is broken, what is ugly, what is incorrect. They are looking at the cracks in the sidewalk. They say two things: one, that they want to focus there because those things need attention so that more people will see the problem, so hopefully, everyone will see the problem, and two, they say they want it changed for the better, and the way to do that is to give more attention to the problem so that more people will become involved and want to solve the problem also. Groups and foundations are created to perpetuate the problem and make sure that more and more people know about the problem and have more people want to fix the problem, and the way to fix the problem is to. . . Whew! It is a circle of influence, isn't it!? Or, maybe a circle of friends of the _________.

It's all in what you want to focus on and what you want to pay attention to, and it is pretty easy to see that pessimists focus on problems. They may talk about solutions, but only to perpetuate the problem.

Optimists, on the other hand, focus on what is good, and what feels right to them. They look at what brings joy and love. They see what is right about a situation or thing and seek to expand their joy through finding more things of value and benefit and share that with others, in hopes that they too will find value and benefit from their own point of view.

How can two people look at the same exact thing and see something so different--even the exact opposite? Choice. It is just choice.

I choose joy. I choose optimism. I choose to feel good. I choose to see what works. I choose to give love. I choose to spread that point of view.

One Thing Is Certain: I Always Get To Choose.

Spread Some Joy Today--Take some time today and analyze your point of view. Make a list of what is wrong in the world, in your life and see how long that list is. Then, make a list of what is right and good in the world and in your life. How long is that list? Want to change your point of view?