Attitude is Everything
You get to choose. It’s not a default setting.
I don’t know about you but there are times that my attitude really sucks. Life happens and sometimes it just doesn’t go the way I want it go. I find myself sinking into a pit of self pity and before I know it I’m mad at the world and they aren’t even aware of it.
Our attitudes are key to success in life and they are totally in our control. Most of the time we let out attitudes take control of us which, at times, produces negative results…depression, anger, fear, anxiety, and even doubt. But in saying that we have the capability to flip that script if we consciously take notice of the negativity before it settles in. Attitude is a choice. It always will be and regardless of our circumstances it’s our decision to ultimately make. Will we let negativity reign over us or will we take a step of faith to the possibility that better things are waiting just ahead of us if we’ll just hold on a little bit longer?
The Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians that we are to be content in all circumstances and not to be anxious or look back but to strain forward to better days.
“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” – Philippians 4:11-13
I read that and want it to be that easy but let’s face it, it’s just not. Sometimes there are situations that we go through that take us down to a place where it feels like rock bottom is actually a looking up from where we are in that moment. There are times when we feel so defeated by life and people that we just can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel and our hope fades to a color we’ve never even heard of. That’s the exact moment that we need to realize that what we are going through is really meant for us to “grow through.” When we flip our mindset from dread to thankfulness and look for meaning in our mess instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, the winds of change in our attitude shift over to the positive side. Over time of flipping the script we will release the death grip a negative attitude has over our thinking and we will slowly resonate the fact that everything really does happen for a reason and this was all part of the plan.
I know something that really helps to change my attitude into the positive is when I do something for someone else. When I take my attention off of myself and place it on showing compassion toward another person I instantly feel a little better. Sometimes a lot better. Another way I force myself to change my crappy attitude is to go for a walk in the woods and quiet myself long enough to listen to the birds chirp and all the little sounds of the critters around me. There is nothing that humbles me more that to be in the middle of God’s grandeur and remind myself that it’s not all about me and there’s greater work that’s being done and I’m not the one in control. He’s got a plan and it’s my job to sit tight and see how it unfolds.
“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11
How can I be anxious or have a bad attitude when I know God has something so much greater just waiting for me?
I don’t have the magic formula for inner peace or being content in any given circumstance, let alone all circumstances, but I do know what works for me and that is shifting my focus off of myself and my struggles and pointing them toward compassion and doing for others, even in the smallest of ways. I believe we are supposed to use our lives, the struggles and mistakes, to make someone else’s life better and to inspire them to do the same.
