We can't be upbeat and positive all the time, or can we? From a Course in Miracles, "...for a mind at war against itself remembers not eternal gentleness." Have you ever had a conversation with yourself? In his book Inspiration, Wayne Dyer writes about conflicting thoughts with never-ending chatter creating all sorts of imaginary dialogue. I write from the heart on this as I recently imparted an expectation on a friend and when they didn't respond in the way I intended them to I waged war on them in my thoughts. When I say this then he will say that, then I will respond with this. Or if he says this then I will say that and then he might say this or that and on and on it goes. Not only is it counterproductive, it's quite frankly insane. My friend Kathy would say, "Jen, you are talking gibberish" and she is right. A day lost because I allowed myself to have crazy talk in my head. Not to mention the chaos it created in my personal life. Not only with him, but also my friends who I had been conversing with on the subject. One negative imaginary conversation led to another, and then they became reality. I was actually snarky via text. I was not "sweet Jen." Today is a new day. Thank you Kathy, Teri, Paula, Kristy, Doug and all my friends for reminding me and believing in who I am at my core. Today I choose to have beautiful conversations, with myself and others. I choose to know that I can experience peace and eternal gentleness all the time. I will say kind things to myself and to others. I will make a conscious effort to use words inside my head and out in a loving manner. I will be a part of the solutions in my world and not create the problems. Isn't that fun? We can, just by choosing our thoughts, always have access to the peace and gentleness we all desire. My girlfriend Kathy has also said in the past, when choosing our words ask yourself two questions; "why do I need to say something?" and "am I being kind?"