What an amazing way to start the day!

Promising myself to stay on the positive side of the street, I try and start every Sunday with Pastor Joel Osteen. He is amazing and just speaks right to my soul. I wish I could bottle up all positivity and keep it in my pocket. Technically speaking I do because I download his podcast every week to my ipod but wouldn't it be great to have him as your friend.

Today Pastor Joel spoke about how not to be negative. He gives such great insight about judging others and finding the wrong in everything. He offered up two wonderful stories. The first being a couple who had participated in services at Lakewood. The couple were tattooed from head to toe and pierced as well and when they came to meet with him after the services he mentioned that at first look he had some negative thoughts. He stopped it before it started! Amazing because having judged someone by appearance I know how difficult that can be. He than opened himself up and said that the couple were really kind people and the man was a member in a metal band who told him he hadn't been to church ever till he heard Pastor Joel. That man than gave Pastor Joel a cd and told him to play track 7 because he wrote it after hearing Pastor Joel's message. Amazing!

Another story Pastor Joel told was about another couple. The wife while looking out her window saw her neighbor hanging her laundry to dry and quickly judged how the clothes looked so dirty. She kept telling her husband to look and asking him how they could wear clothes like that that were so dirty. The following week when the women awoke she noticed more laundry being hung up. This time the laundry was pristine immaculate even. The woman told her husband who than told his wife how he awoke bright and early and cleaned the windows! Reminding us with a great story how often when we judge others, we really are judging ourselves.

This last story made me think so much about a conversation with my Brother that I've been having lately. I feel as if Brother Bear is always being negative towards me and putting me down. He yells at me rather than talking to me and dictates to me rather than talking to me. What is my role here? Do I speak to him the way that I want to be spoken too? Am I following the Golden Rule?

I've been thinking about the way I talk to him and why he speaks to me the way he does. Do our conversations come from a loving place or are we taking each other for granted? Sad to say we're both taking each other for granted. Allowing myself to become lazy and quick to be negatice. Now I can't change my Brother Bear but I can change myself and hope that some of it rubs off. I know no one is perfect including myself. Far from it actually!

I am a masterpiece in progress always growing and more importantly always learning.

I will:

• think before I speak.


• speak words of love.


• respect others.


• practice not gossiping with anyone about anything.


• be positive and see that glass half full.


• write it out.


• clean my own windows.


• remember no matter what, we are all children of God.


• stop being a fault finder.


• magnify the good.


• spend my time improving myself not worrying about others.


• be supportive.


• stop allowing myself to be poisoned.


• be grateful.


• make lists of positive qualities about the people in my life and focus on them. erase the negative qualities.

Remember to wake up in positive thoughts and go to sleep with positive thoughts!