Judgement- It's all a matter of perspective

Recently I have begun looking over Pinterest, and not for recipes.  I have always been a fan of quotes.  I share them with our staff, with students, and always have one in my signature line for my emails.  The quote to the left really caught my eye for two reasons.

The first reason goes all the way back to 4th grade.  That's long ago enough that many of you reading this probably weren't even alive.  The year was 1973.  I was in a classroom in Louisville, KY, in the heat of a spelling bee.  Spelling always came easy to me but I think it was just because I could memorize well.  In all of the words of the quote to the left, only one has two spellings (not flower vs. flour).  It is judgement.  Or judgment.  The teacher said the word and I spelled it- J-U-D-G-E-M-E-N-T.  Success, or so I thought, but I was informed I had misspelled the word.  I didn't agree with her assessment and went right to the dictionary for proof.  And I found it.  There are two acceptable spellings for judgement but she would have nothing to do with it.  To this day, I spell judgement with the "e" that my teacher told me was incorrect.  So now on to the real reason the quote caught my eye.

We have the awesome power every day to look at a situation and make our own determination- is it a flower or a weed.  The voice mail light on your phone- a flower or a weed.  The most recent email in your inbox- a flower or a weed.  The disagreement with a friend or family member- a flower or a weed.  This quote reminds me of the glass half full argument.  It is a judgement call.  And those of you who know me and are still reading, you know I'm a glass half full kind of guy.  It takes just as much energy to be positive as it does to be negative.  It's a judgement call.  So why not choose the positive and make the judgement that the situation you are dealing with is a flower.  It sure makes it more beautiful.