With the Power of Thought... WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

I’m a girl so naturally I cry, a lot. I cry about spilled milk, water under the bridge, bad hair cuts, SPCA commercials, savasana, Disney films, etc... Add a glass of wine to this mix and I am a veritable pile of emotional mush.

It is for this reason that I don't watch the news. They say that if you are not pissed off, then you are not paying attention. And this is true. I choose to not live my life in a state of pissed off so purposely I remain in my state of ignorance is bliss. This is not to say that I am dumb, or uniformed. I gather information regarding relevant current events from a number of unbiased and reputable sources and of course, because sometimes you have to laugh about it so you don't cry about it, the Daily Show with John Stewart. But I do not watch the local tally of how many people killed each other in my neighborhood, or accounts of local idiots who were surprised to find their cars up trees after running a red light while text messaging their ex for a drunk booty call (this actually recently happened in my neighborhood).

This morning however the news found me. During the commercial break of my favorite cooking show a preview for the evening news aired telling of a story about a woman who killed first her two young boys and then herself. Not a common story but certainly not an unusual one. This story hit me, and it hit me hard. I was instantly teary and the well of emotion rose and gained strength as the words of the newscaster echoed in my mind for the next few moments. I found myself sobbing with grief over people I had never met, and the state of the world today.

I have recently heard of a study that was done in Washington DC, about the power that thoughts have. A group of a hundred people gathered and meditated on positive thoughts every day for a month. The amazing results of this experiment was that with in that month the crime rate in Washington DC went down by 20%, in the month immediately after the crime rate instantly rose back to the higher rate. I would like to ask that everyone focus on positive thoughts. Stop watching TV aimed at making you angry, stop paying attention to all that is negative and instead focus on the blessings in your life. Count them one by one each moment of each day. Be grateful for the small things and give no attention to that which is not positive. Perhaps if enough of us meditate on positive thoughts we can change the world.