Choosing Joy, Love, and Peace — Then Allowing Them!

I love spending time with family on Christmas, and that happened this early evening.

Just a quick thought that echoes some of my articles this week. We get to choose what emotions we want to feel. We cannot control events, nor can we control the behaviors, words, or attitudes of others. However, if we want to feel a certain way, we get to choose that. We can set the emotion goals for each day, for each holiday, or for any especially challenging situation we may be facing.

We can set the picture, the sense of those emotions in our minds and souls, allow them and make a space for them, and receive the help and love of eternal Spirit in faith.

Allowing the emotions we wish to feel in part means not only creating the visualized mindset but also not doing things, negative things, that will preclude the emotions we wish. This is so crucial.

And I only mention it because during holiday times, I think many people do what they don’t really want to. We may say we want to enjoy the day and our loved ones, but the second we start criticizing, offering unsolicited advice, or being disgusted, we eliminate a big chunk of enjoyment. We create the conditions that negate our joy.

We can just refrain from that criticism and exercise love instead. That’s not naïveté, because I don’t think there is anything naive about knowing how we want to feel and choosing our personal behaviors that will allow that.

I hope you have chosen enjoyment and love on a day such as this. This season for many people of many faiths means joy, love, and peace. I hope you have had great big, heaping helpings of those today.

​Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!