So it is...

"What seems to be, is, to those to

whom it seems to be."

Research by Merle Lawrence of Princeton and Adelbert Ames of Dartmouth demonstrated that what we see is often determined more by what we expect to see than it is by what's actually there.

What we expect to see is determined by what direction our mind tends to flow.

There are plenty of things in the world to make us feel good. There are also plenty of things in the world to make us feel bad.

Whether we feel better or whether we feel worse is, to a large degree, determined by where we train our mind's eye to look, what we train it to see. 

If we want to see bad, we can, and our emotions will follow our thoughts.

If we want to see good, we can, and our emotions will follow suit.

So why not choose to ignore the "Bad News Bears."

While early environmental influences can shape our mind's eye toward a particular tendency, with awareness and practice we can redirect it.

Poet William Blake knew this spiritual truth centuries before it was validated by research. He wrote:

"What seems to be, is, to those to

whom it seems to be."

We can use this knowledge to our advantage by training ourselves to see the good, the beautiful, and the hopeful. Doing this will add texture and depth to our lives. It will help make our life more abundant.