Attitude- What role does it play in our lives?

Have you heard this before:

"Attitude not aptitude determines your altitude in life"

I just recently began reading "The Difference Maker" by John Maxwell again.  And It reminded me of the number one thing in our lives that will help us to determine how we can react or how our ability to respond to any given situation directs us towards our programmed response- Our attitude.

How many times have you woken up and felt like you "woke up on the wrong side of the bed".  Well have you ever noticed how that thought process shapes the rest of your day, what you tell yourself throughout the day and how your ability to respond to each and every situation changes?  How many times have you stopped yourself when you are having one of those days and "changed your attitude"?

I once heard in a management seminar the following-
If your job sucks, and your car sucks, and your spouse sucks and your cat sucks, and your house sucks- then you suck.  What does this mean????  Really?

As I was reading through Conversations with God today, a quote that stuck out to me was:
"It begins with you.  Everything.  All things.  You want the world to change, change things in your own world" (page 240)

This right here is the heart of everything we have been talking about over the last few posts- and it really can come down to attitude and how we look at our own world.

Have you ever noticed, there are people in our lives that seem to be eternal optimists?  Have you ever thought that maybe they look at life in a different light than others, not really focussing on seeing the negativity, not allowing the group consciousness of our society and the challenges we may all face as a human race affect them in such a way it brings them down?  How do you think it is they stay in the positive happy optimistic world they exist in with all of this turmoil, challenge and plight in the world.
It is simply their attitude.

Our attitude, whether you think it or not, is brought on by some of the very things we have discussed in this blog already- how we talk to ourselves, our beliefs we tell ourselves, and the ability to respond to the opportunities presented to us.  Wait0 did I just say to the opportunities presented to us?  YES.
Every event and experience we have is an opportunity for us to respond, an opportunity for us to have an "attitude adjustment", an ability to respond in any way we see fit.  

picture courtesy of: http://www.altdaily.com/features/news/opinion-news/a-new-transpo-option-part-one.html

Let me give you an example of an attitude adjustment/opportunity for growth and the ability to respond.  For those of you whom live in congested areas where there is a lot of traffic (for I don't... the most traffic i deal with is... well.. there is none although when I travel, i experience it)  it can take its toll on your mindset, agreed?  I would say that people react in a few different ways- I know when I am in a place of the challenged attitude , traffic to me is the worst thing in the world.. it stops my forward progress and makes me impatient, and frustrated.  What would happen if when I am in the challenged attitude that is what it is, we look at it as part of life, something we can't control and just take a deep breath and settle in for the "ride" if you will.  Doesn't it make sense that our attitude adjustment in that experience would then allow us to look at it differently?  and we would be in a much different altitude if you will? What if we went to this place instead in our mind:

What would your reaction and attitude be if you thought differently.  You see what happens is when we put our challenged attitude out into our thoughts, our thoughts create vibrations within the universe that respond with more of the same that we are putting out there.  You see, our attitude is EVERYTHING we exist in, it determines how we travel through life, it determines where we go and how the mechanics are laid out in front of us.  I can speak from personal experience in so many instances that when I have had a less than positive attitude that things in my life seem to continue to go the wrong direction, but when I start to look at the glass as half full again and determine that it has been a focus on the less than positive attitude I normally carry in life that is bringing with it a challenge for me, that life seems to play itself out in a most positive fashion.

So what is it about these people that makes them so "Optimistic".  It simply put, is the way they CHOOSE to look at the world.  Our attitude is a choice we make every day.  It is the way we choose to live, choose to believe, choose to think. It is trainable.  For those of you whom have what we would call a less than positive attitude, all it takes is to start with ONE positive thought or action per day.. and then it becomes two, then it becomes three... and so on.   Pretty soon, you will see that the world isn't such a bad place after all.  It is only then, that if each and every one of us does this, we will affect change in the world and change the attitude of the human race.  It starts inside each one of us and creates everything!

I will continue with this topic another day, but for now- realize that attitude is everything.  Start to look at what your attitude affects throughout your day.  What things do you notice that your attitude is affecting in your day?