The majority of humanity, especially in western society, has gotten itself into such a rush, that they have forgotten to take time to "stop and smell the roses.” Life is meant to be an adventure, a joyous celebration of living light. When you do not take the time to enjoy creation and feel - truly feel what is taking place, you deprive yourself of a great portion of the wisdom and beauty life has to offer.

Humanity has become so mental, that the "intellectual" aspect has become practically a religion unto itself. Feelings, emotions, and the heart are derided as invalid due to lack of so-called "scientific evidence". This is a reflection of this society’s imbalance between its mental and emotional aspects. Both are valid and inseparable from who you are. There is no risk of losing the mental aspect that has already been mastered by beginning to honor the emotional, feeling aspect of yourself. Indeed, there is much to be gained.

Start listening to your bodies, your hearts. There is a constant flow of information available if you will only pause and take a moment to feel what your body is saying to you. Some people have called this a "gut feeling" or "intuition". The label does not matter, for it is indeed your heart supplying you with its truth. The heart does not rationalize, nor does it have an ego that will cause illusion. It only feels what is right. It is up to you to listen and pay attention. You then have the opportunity to make more balanced choices based on information from both the heart and the mind.

Now let us talk for a moment about judgment versus discernment. There has been much written about not judging, but let's look at it from an energetic viewpoint. Whenever a judgment is made, you as an individual are creating negative energy within yourself. This is "inherent to the process".

By setting up the polarity of "this is good", and "this is bad", you instantly create the negative energy within yourself of that which has been judged to be "bad". Since the very nature of judgment itself is to dwell on that which is "bad", people will tend to sit and wallow in this negativity until something else comes along to distract them. Since this is the energy you are putting out, this is what you begin to attract to you. Soon you will find yourself judging more and more, all the while creating and attracting more negative energy to you. This energy has no choice but to stay with the one who has created it, until soon you are so full of negative energy that it begins to spill out, and you end up sharing it with your friends and loved ones and all those you come into contact with.

Let me suggest a viewpoint that is based in higher wisdom. It is based on Love and discernment. By love we are not talking about an emotional attitude. We are referring to the acceptance and tolerance of others exactly as they are. In the ability to see that every person on this planet has their own lessons to learn, and their own choices to make along their path. We can then use our own discernment, and say to ourselves-"Ah!, That doesn't look wise to me. That does not feel right. I choose not to have that in my life. If that is your lesson so be it, but I have already learned that".

Give this a try over the next month and see if you can feel this within you. Pay very close attention to your feelings the next time you find yourself judging something. Notice the anger, and the feeling in your solar plexus. Feel the negative emotions coursing throughout your entire body. How does it feel? Do you really like that feeling? Could this be your body telling you it does not appreciate what you have just created within? Then try to look at the situation using discernment as described earlier. Notice how your body feels now. Notice the calmness, yes, even the peacefulness. Doesn't that feel better?

Now, understand that while judgment is not necessarily wise, it does exist. It is a lesson unto itself. Will you see it for what it is, an opportunity to recognize what you are creating within yourself and thereby choose more wisely in the future?

Oh, and if you do catch yourself judging, don't judge the judgment! You can drive yourself crazy and gain no more ground than a dog chasing its tail! Simply try to use discernment the next time the opportunity arises. Take care, honor yourself and one another.

Marty Rawson - Summer 2002

www.streetmagazine.net