For the most part, I gave up judging people about the same time I gave up perfectionism. When I finally got old enough—actually wise enough—to realize I’m not perfect, nor do I need to be, I also relinquished that expectation of others. With the freedom of being released from the shackles of trying to do right, be right, look right and act right all the time, I learned judging others, just like judging yourself, is usually premature and always unloving. In addition, it is binding to the persons on both sides of the bench.

Every morning, in your first view of the day, you have the choice to say, ‘Good morning, God’ or ‘Good God, morning.
— Wayne Dyer – 

Right about now, I think most of us are in “Good God, morning” mode and with good reason. Life is heavy. Damn heavy. It feels like everything has changed, even the mundane, everyday chores have a different protocol. So in a world where mental comfort has become more difficult to find, what can we do to still put a smile on our faces and contentment in our hearts?

The answer is lighten up! We all need to, including our children. They pick up on our cues of uneasiness, sadness, despair and anxiety. So do our pets. The only side effect to lightening up is feeling lighter. You may also notice a pep in your step. Come on! It’s summertime—you deserve a moment to be happy and carefree, but you’re going to have to work for it. You have to decide you have had enough heaviness and purposely move toward the lighter side of life. 

For the most part, I gave up judging people about the same time I gave up perfectionism. When I finally got old enough—actually wise enough—to realize I’m not perfect, nor do I need to be, I also relinquished that expectation of others. With the freedom of being released from the shackles of trying to do right, be right, look right and act right all the time, I learned judging others, just like judging yourself, is usually premature and always unloving. In addition, it is binding to the persons on both sides of the bench.

Don’t be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin.
— Grace Hansen –

Life is full of surprises, and 2020 has been the ringmaster for them. For all you who have read “The Help,” or seen the movie, you will be able to relate to a funny, yet oh-so-true, meme I saw. It has a picture of Minny Jackson standing at Hilly Holbrook’s door with her famous chocolate s#!t pie. The meme reads: If 2020 were a pie!

Lord, Child, don’t you know it. Year 2020 has force fed us more than our fill of Minny’s secret ingredient. While we just ALL experienced one of the most jaw-dropping, unbelievable times in modern day history, I have to admit silver linings still abound. I also confess I have wished a time or two that the world would just stop for a week or two so I could catch up. Well, ain’t that a wish made in Heaven? Be careful what you ask for… and I didn’t catch up.

Well, isn’t life full of surprises? If someone would have told any one of us on New Years Eve what lay ahead for 2020, we would have thought they were out of their mind. “Really” we would have said in a tone more like a judgement than a question. All the stores closed? Schools and colleges shut down? Everyone staying at home? Millions of lost jobs? We would have discounted it as poppycock and claimed the messenger to be drunk. But nonetheless, it’s all true, and here we are, slowly and thankfully getting back to normal, which is the new bad word.