Monday, December 8, 2008

Attitude

“Our attitude toward life determines life's attitude towards us.” - John N. Mitchell

If you had told me this ten years ago I would've thought you were nuts, fortunately I have opened my mind a lot more and started learning more about life. Back then I had a very negative attitude, some of my friends would even say to me, 'Stop being so negative.' My reply would be, 'I'm not being negative, just realistic.' What a load of rubbish. So many of us have this victim mentality, we believe we have no control, or limited control over our life. We get out of bed every morning and believe we just have to deal with whatever life throws at us every day. Well guess what, if that's what we believe, then that's what is going to happen. If we want it to change we need to change our attitude.

I had such a bad attitude that I refused to expect good things to happen to me. My philosophy was, 'Don't expect good things to happen and you won't be disappointed'. And that's exactly what happened, fortunately nothing really bad happened, but I often wonder how different things would be if my attitude had been different. I can't change the past so I am just truly grateful that I have been introduced to the truth.

“Having a positive mental attitude is asking how something can be done rather than saying it can't be done.” - Bo Bennett

Changing an attitude is like changing any habit. It's difficult at first, but as you get used to it, it becomes easier. It also helps to have the right support group. If you want to develop a positive attitude, but continue to socialise with negative people then everything becomes that much tougher. Another hurdle is what I call the 'waiting game'. A lot of us are waiting for something to happen, then we'll change. Fortunately it doesn't work that way, we need to change our attitude first.

“Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same.” - Francesca Reigler

Life is all about choices, and choosing eventually becomes an attitude. When someone does something that annoys me, in the traffic for example, I choose the way I react to it. I can choose to let it upset me or I can choose to let it go. Some of you might say, 'I just can't help it.' That's like saying, 'Someone else controls me.' They usually send people like that for observation. Take control of your life, start by developing a healthy attitude.

“You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.” - Brian Tracy

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” - Thomas Jefferson

Writing this article reminded me of an article I read a while back, 'Be Here Now' by Terry Winchester. Click here to read the article, and be honest with yourself while reading it....

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