Adjust your attitude!

Optimism and Attitude

“You can't control the length of your life, but you can control its width and depth. You can't control the contour of your face, but you can control its expression. You can't control the weather, but you can control the atmosphere of your mind. Why worry about things you can't control when you can keep yourself busy controlling the things that depend on you.”

                                        John Maxwell

I need to read this little maxim every single day. It should be my mantra. As a born-and-bred co-dependent, I am forever spinning my mental wheels searching for solutions to problems that have nothing to do with me—for my children, for my community, for total strangers, the world—you name it. When people don't do the things I think they should, I can really go into an obsessive tailspin of worry and angst. I have to be vigilant about my attitude or I can go negative in a heartbeat.

It seems there is a lot of negativity in our world today. With our 24/7 news cycle, we can keep up with every nation's hostility and unrest. It's easy to think that nothing good ever happens, but we know that is not true. We also know that our attitude is not dependent on what is going on in the world, or even in our neighborhood, but is the result of our own perceptions. We actually can control our attitudes. It takes practice. Just as the constant negativity has been reinforced over time, sustaining a positive, optimistic attitude requires diligence. It requires that we monitor our thoughts and gently call them back when they take a turn for the worst. It helps to have a higher power to hand over our deepest concerns to. It's good to believe in the benevolence of the universe. But in the end, it is our personal work to adjust our attitudes toward something positive.

Think how the world would change if we all expected it to. I don't mean we should put on rose-colored glasses and pretend everything is just great. But if we hold an expectant optimism, our own response to the world will change. We can learn, one human being at a time, to respond positively even when the news is not good. Optimism is just as contagious as pessimism.

I hope today, you will join me in practicing positive attitude. When you hear negativity from yourself or others, try responding to it with resolute kindness. Redirect your thoughts away from 'ain't it awful' and toward 'it's getting better.'

                                           In the spirit,

                                             Jane