AN ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

In my last post (May 30 ~ A Different Attitude) I started looking at the importance and impact of our ATTITUDE in determining the trajectory of our life. Last night I watched the NBA playoffs, the Boston Celtics versus the Miami Heat. In the post-game interviews the coach of the Celtics talked about his all-star point guard, Rajon Rondo. I wasn’t aware, but I guess Rondo is the type of player and person who one night he thinks he’s the greatest point guard on the planet and on another night he thinks he’s the worst. One of Coach Doc River’s hardest tasks is to help his star player maintain the right attitude. It can be the difference between winning and losing, success and failure.

The late Norman Vincent Peale once made the following point: “Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude towards it, for that determines our success or failure. The way you think about a fact may defeat you before you ever do anything about it. You are overcome by the fact because you think you are.” Attitude is a big thing and a small thing. It’s a “big thing” because of it’s importance and influence our attitude has upon how we live our lives. It’s a “small thing” because changing our attitude doesn’t have to be a major, time-intensive process. I believe we can decide to think different, and it will reap immediate results. It may take a process to maintain our new attitude, but it starts with a strong decision to think differently.

Psalm 73:21-22 (Complete Jewish Bible) “When I had a sour attitude and felt stung by pained emotions, 22 I was too stupid to understand; I was like a brute beast with you.”

Most of us have had the unpleasant experience of being dominated by a sour attitude. Someone who loved us enough to speak the truth into our lives caringly (or not so caringly) confronted us and said: “You need an attitude adjustment.” If the state of our attitude has become so obvious someone is moved to say something to us, it must be pretty sour and stinky. If you’re among the chronically cranky you’re likely going to be offended by the subject of today’s blog.

The Apostle Paul, who never seemed to back away from provoking someone towards an attitude adjustment, asks a question in Galatians 4:15 (God’s Word): “What happened to your positive attitude?” As you reflect on your general attitude towards life right now, would you say you possess and project a positive or negative attitude? Is it possible someone who cares about you is just about ready to ask, “What happened to your positive attitude?” In my next post I want to look more into how to adjust our attitude. I want to be a person with a winning attitude, and I want the same for you.