ATTITUDE

In the words of Jack Canfield “Your attitude can make or break almost any situation. It is the energy you bring into the room. You can have a positive attitude about the events in your life, or you can come from a place of complaint and misery. You decide.” (Taken from Jack Canfield’s Key to Living the Law of Attraction.)


Or what about the words of Dr. Norman Vincent Peale when he said, “Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure.”


Is there any wonder why my doctor, when giving me the MS diagnosis, told me to stay positive? Could a bad attitude, a negative one, have impacted my life, my healing? I am convinced it not only could have, but would have. All I need to do is search God’s Word and see His accounting of bad attitudes. Check out the stories of how bad attitudes affected the Israelites. I believe it was the complaining and whining about their situation that caused 40 years of wandering in the desert, delaying their reaching the Promised Land.


The Israelites always had something to complain about and they didn’t hold back. Just do a word search on “complain” in an online bible and find out for yourself. I believe this “law of attraction” that Jack Canfield writes about is based on the reaping and sowing principle of which I wrote earlier. By complaining, people just attract more to complain about, just as the Israelites did.


So, how do I maintain a positive attitude? I choose it every day. I simply choose to have a positive attitude, by choosing to be grateful and thankful. I choose to be happy. I choose to smile. I think anyone can make those choices, if they really want to. Is it easy? No. Is it necessary? Absolutely. I believe my choices in this regard direct my life.


As a former manager of many teams of very diverse people, one thing I valued greatly is an employee’s positive attitude. It makes such a difference in the workplace if people view things positively, make the best of situations beyond their control and refrain from complaining. As economic changes occurred, it caused our company to cut back in certain areas. It made a difference when people understood that it was necessary to cut back and didn’t complain about it. It made a significant difference when people were genuinely thankful they still had a job and no one was being laid off. It made a difference when people saw a challenge in working “smarter” and improving processes that saved the company money.


When someone would complain about budget reductions, or changes to things beyond my control, I would simply state “it is what it is.” Really, sometimes it just “is” and we need to learn to adapt or change what we can and move forward. Complaining isn’t productive. Would my complaining about dealing with MS symptoms help me? No. In fact, I believe that if I had complained, my symptoms would easily have been worse. Instead I looked for solutions and I found them in God’s Word.


I can choose every day to see the “good” in situations; the glass half-full, not half-empty; the sunny side, not the dark side. I have learned to choose to make lemonade from life’s lemons. I have learned the benefits of having an attitude of gratitude.


Philippians 4:6“Don't worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks for what you have.” (ERV)


Romans 1:21 “because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” (NKJV)


1Corinthians 15:57 “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”(NKJV)


1Thessolonians 5:18 “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (NKJV)


2Corinthians 2:14 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in victory through Christ. God uses us to spread his knowledge everywhere like a sweet-smelling perfume.”(ERV)


Ephesians 5:20 “Always give thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”(ERV)



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