A Filter of Hope

This morning I am listening, half-heartidly, to the news as I read through several blogs of encouragement I read each day that give me things to think about (to chew on really) throughout the day. If I chose to listen to what the news was saying, I think my heart would skip a beat. The current financial crisis America is facing is really a global issue. Our money affects EVERYONE. Our economic decisions here on our soil impact the smallest of investments halfway around the world. It is times like these that I look to the Heavens "where my help comes" and decide to turn down the volume on the television.

I used to get caught up in the daily turning of our world. I felt if I knew everything that was going on, then I would be informed enough to help those around me when the time came. I'd be ready. The truth is, as I listen too closely, my heart and soul absorb the contents being spoken and I find myself grappling with negativity and pessimism. Not that I want to be an ostrich with my head in the sand, I just realize that I am very sensitive to surrounding energies, and I choose to exclude the world as it turns or at least lessen its impact by concentrating on good. I decide to see the world through a more insightful filter... a filter of hope.

A more important question for me is who do I affect on a daily basis. What family, friends and neighbors need my help? How can my life impact another, even with a smile? I first have to have a smile stashed away inside my soul before I can give it away. Like Anne Frank wrote in her diary as she sat in a concentration camp looking out at what we would consider a bleak world, "I choose to be happy." If, given her environment, Anne can make a choice to be happy, how much more do we have available to us?

When the world shows us its ugly side, we have a choice. We can fret about our future and trap the negativity into our being, or we can reach out to others and be a positive light of encouragement that illuminates an unstable world. I know the choice I desire to make. How about you?