9 minute read
ATTITUDE
FROM THE EDITOR
How would you rate your attitude on a scale of 1 to 10? How would you rate the attitude of your family members on the same scale? How about your closest friends and hangout buddies? Your school classmates? Your work associates? How about the leaders and members of your church?
A great attitude is a condition or frame of mind required to succeed in any line. When it comes to success, health, relationships, productivity, giving, getting what you want in life, and living up to what you believe God is calling you to do, attitude is one of the most crucial factors determining success or failure. A great attitude results in more meaningful, growing, and healthy relationships. A great attitude results in higher productivity levels and determines whether one succeeds or fails at reaching goals. A poor attitude results in a lack of generosity, hoarding, frequent and habitual failure, poor performance, higher levels of stress, and conflict. People who have learned how to develop a great attitude and maintain a healthy mindset are on the path to success and leading a vibrant and fulfilling life.
Did you know it is possible to have varying attitude levels in different areas of your life? For example, an individual could have a reasonably healthy attitude at the office or work while that same person could have a poor, miserable, critical, and destructive attitude with his or her spouse and children at home. Consequently, the same individual can achieve relative success at work, fail at home, and vice versa.
Why is that? Attitude. Having a great attitude is foundational for success, no matter what area in which you try to succeed. Developing the habit of a great attitude and maintaining that attitude under all circumstances and situations is the secret to growth and success in the Christian walk. It is impossible to gain substantive success in one's spiritual, mental, physical, emotional, or social health without first developing a great attitude in whatever area one seeks success.
This is true for every area of life. Do you want to have a closer, more intimate relationship with God? Do you want to experience more confidence in your walk with God? Do you want to be more spiritual? Do you want to be the spiritual leader in your home? Do you want your children interested in God, faith, and Bible religion? Then understand you must learn how to have and maintain a great attitude in your life.
Do you want to find financial and economic freedom? Do you want a better job or wish to start your own business and succeed? Learn how to create and maintain a great attitude—and learn how to teach it to others.
Do you want to be a better leader? Do you want to make an impact in your community, church, or home? Then gain mastery over your attitude. Demonstrate and practice a great attitude.
If you constantly complain about how your pastor didn't visit you or your sick loved one, how the church or conference spent too much money on this or that, or how so and so (who's supposed to be a Christian) ripped you off. If you complain how your fellow brother or sister at church doesn't eat right, dress right, or attend all the meetings just right, don't expect your spouse, children, family, work associates, or neighbours to be interested in God or your religion.
If you constantly complain about your lack of money, debt, and poor wages you earn at your job, don't expect to ever experience success, growth, promotions, or bonuses. You first need to change your attitude.
If you constantly complain about the economy or the government and how this party or that party is just messing everything up, don't expect anything to get better. You must first change your failing and miserable attitude. You must learn how to first think differently and then be part of a solution.
With that said, how can you tell if you have a great attitude?
Many teach or have the false idea that attitude is dependent upon feelings. It would be nearly impossible to have a great attitude when sick (say with COVID or cancer) if that was true. Or, if your spouse is yelling at you or accusing you of something you didn't do, it would be impossible to maintain a great attitude. Why? Because nobody feels good in those situations. If attitude depends on feelings and emotions, then it would also mean your mental state of mind must follow and be determined by your circumstances or situation. It would mean that when you feel bad and down, you must also have a poor attitude to match those feelings. However, that is NOT TRUE!!! That's a distorted and backwards way of thinking.
Attitude is not dependent upon feelings. Attitude is a position. It is a state of mind. Your state of mind, or attitude, is not reliant on your circumstances, current situation, or how you feel at any given moment. Attitude, or the position you take toward someone or something, is determined by choice or decision and the vocabulary or words you speak to yourself and those around you.
If you constantly say to yourself things like: • "This is terrible!" • "This is the last thing I need now." • "Why does this always happen to me? Problems, problems, problems,
all I get are problems and more problems." • "I can't do that! I can't take this anymore!" • "I don't know how to do that! I can't do that!" • "How stupid am
I? How dumb!" • "Why don't they just show a little appreciation?" • "Why won't my child(ren) ever listen to me or do anything
I tell them to do?" • "Why did those idiot politicians do that?" • "Why didn't this stupid thing work?"
…then you can be sure you have a bad attitude. Why? Because your words and vocabulary are poor and negative. The position or stance toward any of these items is poor and negative.
Instead, you can say to yourself things like: • "Oh wow, this was unexpected, but that's okay. I'll get through this." • "I'm thankful for the problems I am experiencing right
now because I believe all problems are opportunities. This is an opportunity." • "I don't know how to do that yet, but I'll learn." • "I am intelligent. I am smart. I can do this! I can figure it out. I got this!" • "My children sometimes seem to have trouble listening, but they are getting better. I am proud of the progress they are making." • "You know, I just don't understand some of these politicians' decisions. They don't make any sense to me. But that's okay. I wonder if there is anything I can do to help improve the situation?" • "I wonder how I could get involved to prevent this type of mistake from ever happening again." • "You know, I really don't like what I am seeing happen with the situation between this country and that country, and right now, I don't know how I can make a difference on the macro level, but I'm going to start where I'm at."
You see, if attitude depends on your feelings at any given moment, then you are simply left to rise and fall with your feelings, like a rubber raft or little dinghy bobbing up and down on the ocean waves. Emotion ebb and flow like the tide. They rise and
fall like the waves of the ocean. They come and go like a breeze. Have you ever tried to control the ocean tide or limit the size of the waves? Have you ever tried to stop the wind? You can't stem the tide or stop the wind. Only God can do that. However, you can surf the waves and sail the wind. And if God permits, you can walk on water.
The same is true with feelings and emotions. You can't stop feelings or emotions from happening. As long as you live, breathe, and have your being, you're going to experience feelings and emotions. However, you can control your position, frame of mind, or attitude you take toward your feelings and emotions. Like the surfer who paddles out to catch the next wave or the sailor who sets the sail to thrust the ship in the intended direction, so you can set your attitude or frame of mind in the order you wish to go.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “attitude” as “1) the arrangement of the parts of a body or figure, such as posture. 2) a position assumed for a specific purpose. 3) a ballet position similar to the arabesque in which the raised leg is bent at the knee. 4a) a mental position with regard to a fact or state. 4b) a feeling or emotion toward a fact or state.”
Just like a ballerina masterfully arranges and positions her arms, legs, back, neck, toes, posture, and fingertips to assume the desired position in the ballet, we must learn how to arrange and position our mindset regarding the circumstances we face in life. No matter what situations or circumstances in which we find ourselves, we can always control our attitude. If we do this, we are on our way to an exciting and fulfilling life.
By Eric Ollila, Communication/IT/Media Director Alberta Conference
