The word appreciation can mean many things, from increasing property value, to rewards and honors. But the word can also be used to describe the seemingly magical way a conscious being can create happiness, peace, gratitude, and love — at will:

Appreciation makes love real.

Today, as you encounter people, places, and things, notice that you have a choice: you can remain neutral and simply acknowledge them, you can judge them, or you can appreciate them.

This isn’t about making positive judgments. This is the kind of appreciation that transcends positive/negative judgments — the kind you can literally feel in your heart.

For example, if your child got mud all over the carpet, instead of judging the situation you could appreciate it by first connecting with the deeper, broader, more expansive sense of your Self that’s bigger than judgments, bigger than right and wrong, bigger than time and money, and way bigger than a muddy carpet.

Start each encounter with a neutral observation, consider how you could judge it, and then choose to appreciate.*

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*PS: For a great example of how appreciation can transcend judgments, watch this clip from the end of It’s A Wonderful Life. After his transformation, George appreciates all the “bad” things like his bleeding mouth, his broken down house, and even the fact that he’s going to be arrested for a crime he didn’t commit. All of it just reminds him that he’s grateful to be alive.