Thursday, December 10, 2009

DAY 123 We Are In Charge of Our Attitudes



Hello Journal & Friends,

If all you had to do to succeed was to change ONE thing... would you do it? Depends on what that one thing is, right?



Several years ago I read an article by Charles Swindoll that forever changed my thinking. It opened up my mind to that fact the most of us go through life not realizing how much WE are contributing to the circumstances of our life by our own Attitude. 



In his article Dr Swindoll talks about "playing on the one string we have". He is referring to the story of a famous violinist who had the strings of his violin break, one at a time, during a concert. At last, he had only one string left. Instead of giving up, this talented man finished the concert playing on the one string, and received a standing ovation. I don't know if this really happened or not... sounds like urban legend to me,  but that's not the point.


Here is the part of Dr Swindolls article that I have saved all these years:


"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of Attitude on life.  Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. 


It is more important than the past, than education, than money, 
than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. 


It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make  or break a company... a church... a home. 


The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the Attitude we will embrace for that day. 


We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that 
people will act in a certain way.  We cannot change the inevitable.


The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our Attitude.


I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes!"




Just to be clear, I looked up Attitude in my trusty dusty dictionary. Similar words are: viewpoint, outlook, perspective, stance, position, reaction, opinion, ideas, feelings, thinking.


In other words, how we choose to think or feel about something... the attitude with which we approach our life.  







We can choose a defeatist, lousy attitude, or we can choose a positive, can-do attitude. We have the freedom to choose something this powerful on our own behalf... what good news! Our Attitude will make or break us on this journey to health, so this really is a big deal.




I don't always live up to this... but it's my goal to remember that Attitude is not a fact, it is a CHOICE.


My journey is a long one... from 460 to 199. To make it, I have had to DECIDE to be tough about some things... to be DETERMINED to succeed... to be FEISTY and not allow anything to steal this from me... to CHOOSE to be positive when it would be easier to float downstream like a dead fish.


And one of the best things to help keep me going is to choose a good Attitude. Besides... a good attitude is more fun!



Bonus link: Yesterday I read a post that was terrific by Jack You-Know-Who. It had to do with a can-do, give it 110% attitude. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. He's not referring to perfection (that is a RESULT, and an impossible one at that) but rather to our EFFORTS. "Give a half-assed effort, and you get a half-assed result".  Go (here) for the whole thing... buckle your seat belt! 


From Dr Phil's book: "Design your life so that it pulls for you when you're weak, when you're not pumped up, when don't feel like behaving maturely, when you don't want to tell yourself 'no'. "


My verse for today: "A happy heart makes the face cheerful."


My quote for today: "The greatest discovery of our generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. As you think, so shall you be." --William James


Enjoy the Journey,


Loretta
=^..^=






8 comments:

Losing 100 said...

Great post! I always tell my daughter, "Attitude is everything!" (and then try to remember it myself.) ;)

Christine said...

yup,,,,my and my big brother grew up in the same home...and came out of it with vastly different attitudes. Mine took me up, his took him down. It's all in what you allow to make you bitter. It's what you allow to define you.
Great post loretta.

Unknown said...

Reading your post today made me think of the following quote:

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James

I do believe attitude is everything. Although it's not always possible to maintain a positive outlook on things, I do try to remember to look on the bright side of things. We do get out of our journey what we put into it!

financecupcake said...

Grrreat post! I noticed that reaction was one of the definitions of attitude. Yikes, that is a tough one for me! I like to react by eating.

Not that you need to be reminded, but just in case: YOU HAVE THE RIGHT ATTITUDE! YOU ARE DOING GREAT! YOU ARE MOTIVATED AND MOTIVATING. YOU ARE KEY TO YOUR OWN SUCCESS AND ALSO HELP SO MANY AROUND YOU SUCCEED. YOU, LORETTA, ARE AWESOME.

Dayne Gingrich said...

Great post... sooo true! Attitude dictates so much of what comes our way.

Thanks for your wonderful and thoughtful comments on CoachYourMind. You add a lot the blog!

Dayne

dailyseeking said...

This was a great post and exactly what I needed today! Thanks!

Retta said...

Thank you everyone for such nice comments! I read every one (sometimes more than once, ha ha) and really appreciate them.
They sort of make me feel like we are all... connected, ya know?

Loretta
=^..^=

Anonymous said...

your verse of the day is embroidered on Kitty-ball, one of Isabels stuffed animals! She got it for her birthday many years ago from a religious friend, I think its cute, and true!

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