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Helen Keniston Oney

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Accentuate the Positive-Eliminate The Negative

O God!
Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy hand. Thou art my Guide and my Refuge. I will no longer be sorrowful and grieved; I will be a happy and joyful being. O God! I will no longer be full of anxiety, nor will I let trouble harass me. I will not dwell on the unpleasant things of life.
O God! Thou art more frinde to me than I am to myself. I dedicate myself to thee,
O Lord.

- 'Abdu'l-Bahá

When Abdul-Bahá was in the U.S., He made many, many speeches. Several American Baháís ( Hand of the Cause of God Louis Gregory in particular) noted that He was always encouraging in His talks. Of course He pointed out things that needed to be changed, but the overall tone He used was encouraging. Now, how can one put this into practice?

stop taking in "daily doses of discouragement"

a.k.a. the news! Yes, it is a good thing to be informed of important happenings in the world but the vast majority of daily news is not really "news" - it is just depressing or shocking and not vital. For example, a few years ago I read in the paper of a horrendous case of child abuse that ended with the child dying an agonizing death. I said some prayers for the child, thanked God for my life and my children, but was generally depressed for the rest of that day and some of the next (and in fact whenever I think of it, it makes me so sad - years later). I could not do anything at all to alleviate that childs suffering (he had already died) and it kept me from "be(ing) a river of life eternal to My loved Ones." Learning to filter out harmful influences like this is essential to my well-being.

Avoid criticism - giving or receiving

If there are people in your life that are constantly down on you, on life in general, on the Faith - whatever - avoid them. Pray for them, love them from afar, but avoid them if at all possible.

As far as giving criticism out - this is one of my own tremendous personal challenges. For several years now, it has been my daily goal not to criticize anyone, and see only the good. I have achieved this 4 times,so far! Maybe it isnt a great track record, but I look at it this way: those are 4 days that I would have criticized others if I hadnt been trying, and there have been many more days when I have been close. At least I am moving forward. :o) I also believe criticizing others as a habit, while certainly culturally supported, is not generally good for us (except in certain specific circumstances, such as teaching a skill). It does not make us or the people around us any happier or increase our love for each other, does it?

'Abdu'l-Baha told us, "We must ever praise each other."

How different that is from the way the world is! If we can train ourselves not just to see only the good in each other, but to actively look for good stuff in folks and then tell them about it. It really isn't hugely difficult to find things that we genuinely appreciate about each other. The trick is to share that information, and often!

Read on, O fearless one!

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