Often times, my attitude reflects my current circumstance. That is quite the opposite of my husband. He is the "happy go lucky" type. When he comes home from work each day, unless I ask, I have no idea how good or bad his day at work was. He comes home smiling, regardless of the type of day he had.
I, on the other hand, am sort of like a roller coaster ride. I don't like admitting this fact. When negativity occurs throughout the day, one can tell just by my attitude. When my day is relatively smooth, one can easily see that as well. When my husband comes home from work each day with a smile on his face, he knows as soon as he looks at me how my day was.
Several months ago I asked him how he manages to keep a positive attitude regardless of his circumstance. He explained it in such a wonderful way. It almost left me speechless...almost!
He said, "Heather, two different people can have the exact same things happen to them throughout their day. At the end of the day, person A reports that his or her day was just fine. Person B, however, reports that his or her day was awful. Remember, the exact same events happened to both individuals.
Then my husband explained, "Person A reports a good day simply because nothing really bad happened. Person B reports a bad day simply because nothing really good happened."
This all made perfect sense to me.
He explained, "If bad things happen during the day, I choose to focus on anything good that has happened, and when good things happen, I remain focused on them and refuse to dwell on anything negative that might have happened."
Wow! That makes so much sense to me and sounds so easy! I decided to give it a try, and I failed rather quickly. Why is that hard for me? Yes, some days aren't easy, especially since our move. I am experiencing certain emotions that I didn't even realize existed within me. With that being said, none of my days are horrible. I am very well aware of that. Some of them aren't ideal, but none are bad.
I have to "check" my attitude. I have noticed that if I have a difficult day, but I remain positive in my attitude, it seems as if the whole situation turns around. It really is all about attitude!
I heard a story once and I think about it when I'm in the middle of a bad attitude.
There was a man who lived in a nursing home. He had been there for many years. He resided in a small, simple room. His bed was by the window. Throughout his years in the nursing home, he shared his space with many roomates. One day, a new roomate arrived. The man was blind. The men became instant friends. Every morning, the blind man would ask his friend to describe the weather to him. What did the sky look like? Were the flowers blooming? What color were they?
He would ask the same questions in the afternoon, and then he would ask him to describe the night sky; this happened every single day.
The man whose bed was by the window beautifully described what he saw each day. He would describe shapes in the clouds, pristine rainbows, dark storm clouds, full moons, falling stars, and a huge fountain right outside the window.
The blind man had no family. He was never known to have a visitor. Much of his excitement and zest for life was solely due to the nature updates he was given several times a day from his friend. He looked forward to them as soon as he opened his eyes each morning and was able to close his eyes each night only after having the moon and stars described to him in the most magnifient details.
The man who provided the details was very old and sick. His illness began to progress rapidly. One night, after detailing how miraculous the Big Dipper was that particular evening in the night sky, the man passed away.
Two nurses came into the room in the morning and began collecting his things and cleaning the room. The blind man asked quietly, "Nurse, will you please tell me what it looks like outside today? Is it sunny? Have they turned the fountain on yet?"
One nurse looked at the other. They were puzzled.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
The blind man told the nurses everything. He explained how his friend allowed him to be a part of the world by telling him, several times per day, what he was observing outside.
"Please, just tell me what you see when you look out the window." he asked.
The nurses were silent. One nurse, through her tears, said, "Sir, you certainly had a wonderful friend. There is concrete behind this window. Every time your friend looked out, all he was able to see was a gray slab of concrete."
Attitude! One positive attitude encourages another positive attitude. The man by the window could have easily been bitter and his attitude could have reflected that. In choosing to behave that way, he would have been of no service to the world and people around him.
I choose to have a good attitude no matter what. There are really very few things in life that warrant a horrible attitude. It's taken me years to "get" this, but I am now a firm believer that we choose our attitude. It's a choice. It is something, one of the very few things, that we have complete control over.
Yes, I am starting to believe that attitude really is everything!
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