Sunshine on my shoulders.....



at·ti·tude – noun (dictionary.com)

1. Manner, disposition, feeling, positiong, etc., with regard to a person or thing; tendency or orientation, especially of the mind.

2. Position or posture of the body appropriate to or expressive of an action, emotion, ect.

Attitude is a subject that seems to be popping up a lot lately.  The amazing John Maxwell got to me with his attitude talk at 12Stone a few weeks ago.

'God decides what happens to you, you decide how you react to it'. ~John Maxwell

How true that statement is.  His message really hit home with me and I started a little experiment at work the next week.  The goal was to see how my positive attitude would affect others.  What I learned is that it was contagious and that I was the one who benefited the most from it.  I was happier, less stressed out, I smiled more, and I was more patient.

Having a good attitude is a lesson that was hard for me to learn and one that I am still learning, and that I'm happy to learn.  Many of you know that I sometimes struggle with my health and right now, it is a struggle.  However, if I get upset or depressed or pull out the 'why me' card, what does that accomplish?  How does that help the situation?  It doesn't, it only makes it worse.

In small group last night, we were talking about how God places us in situations that are sometimes difficult or painful to prepare us for something more, or to teach us something that we will use in the future.  In 2000, my father was diagnosed with stage 4 oral cancer and was given a 5% chance to live.  I literally thought my father was going to die, that he would never walk the down the aisle at my wedding, and that he would never hold my children.  It was a hard pill to swallow.  I watched my dad get depressed, but I also watched him remain faithful to the Lord, relying on his Father for strength and comfort.  Throughout it all, his attitude was good, he didn't stress out about the future because it wasn't his to stress out about.  I didn't know it then, but that was a lesson I would need to learn myself.  My father beat the odds and is still with us, praise God.

When I was faced with my own health issues, I was mad; I'm not going to lie.  I didn't understand why I had to deal with this disease or even HOW I was going to deal with it.  Slowly but surely God changed my heart and that lesson I learned watching my father nearly a decade earlier came flooding back.  I CAN do this because I have Him holding my hand and walking with me every step of the way.  My attitude has played a huge role in how I deal with my issues.  That's not to say that I don't have bad days and 'poor pitiful me' days, because I do.  However, I try to keep those to a minimum.  I try not to stress out about all the things that I have no control over, because all that does is hurt me.  Let's face it, there are very few things in life that we do have control over, one of those is your attitude.  So, if a good attitude makes even the worst situations a little brighter, why not go with it?!  After all, having a bad attitude just brings you down.  There's enough in this world working to bring us down, we shouldn't contribute to it.  So, how's your attitude today?