Attitude

Life is 10 percent what happens to you – and 90 percent how you respond to it! The most important decision we’ll make today is our choice of attitude.

Pain and suffering are inevitable. Being miserable is optional.

We all have to deal with things that are unpleasant and people who are disagreeable. Our attitude in these trying situations makes the difference between whether we enjoy life or not.

The Nazis had taken away Victor Frankl’s home, his family, his freedom, his possessions and even his watch and wedding ring. After shaving his head and stripping him, he stood there naked under the glaring lights of the German high command, being interrogated and falsely accused... In that moment, a light came on inside Frankl and he suddenly realised there was one thing nobody could ever take from him. Just one. The power to choose his own attitude in any set of circumstances! Regardless of what they did to him or what the future held for him, he could always choose that; - Bitterness or forgiveness; to give up or go on; hatred or hope; determination to endure or the paralysis of self-pity. And today we have that same choice too.

A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.

Your attitude doesn't 'run on automatic.' You've got to keep adjusting it and feeding it the right thoughts.

“Whatever is… noble… right… pure… lovely… admirable… think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)

Not much can stop you when you have the right attitude, and not much can help you when you haven’t!

If you want to maintain a winning attitude, learn to focus on your opportunities, not your rights. One of the biggest causes of discontent is our constant fight to ‘secure our rights.’ Have you been wronged? Have there been times when you haven’t got everything you deserved? Sure! We live in an imperfect world, and as long as we do, we won’t see a time when everything we do is justly rewarded. So you’re faced with a decision. Are you going to spend your time and energy on what should have been, or get over it and focus on what can be? Even when truth and justice are on your side, you may never be able to right all your wrongs. Continually fighting for your rights in an imperfect world can cause you to be angry and resentful, because these destructive emotions sap your energy and make you negative. And besides, when you focus on your rights you’re usually looking backward. You can’t make progress when you’re facing the wrong way! Only when you turn your focus in the right direction can you begin to move forward. This doesn’t mean you don’t recognize injustice, it just means you choose to forgive it and focus on what you can control – your attitudes and your opportunities.

“There must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes.” (Ephesians 4:23 NLT)

“The greatest discovery of our generation is that we can alter our lives by altering our attitudes.” (William James)

Seeing people through God’s eyes causes them to be attracted and open to you… Your attitude will reach them long before your message does.

Mother Teresa had only two requirements for those working with her in Calcutta: a desire to work and a joyful attitude.

All of us are responsible for two things - our attitudes and our decisions! We’ve all been hurt; but if you’re still using it 20 years later, you’re not a victim of circumstance, but a victim by choice.

Getting hurt is inevitable; living like a victim is a choice.

One ship drives east and another drives west
With the selfsame winds that blow
It’s the set of the sails, and not the gales
That decides the way to go

Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate
As we voyage along through life
It’s the set of the soul that decides its goal
And not the calm or strife
(Ella Wheeler Wilcox)