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As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 103.
Winston Churchill once said; "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference." Attitude can be one of the greatest allies or one of the most fierce enemies we have in the fight to live the life of a victor.
I have to be honest with you, I suffer from a pretty serious ailment. It is not my natural inclination to have a good attitude. I had much rather start from a place of griping and complaining and then move to a place where my attitude gets a little better. Some people are blessed with an instantly good attitude. I'm not one of those people. I'm starting to see how powerful attitude can be in living this victor's life of mine.
Truth is that my ability to have a negative attitude is a character trait hasn't served me all that well. Applying this approach to life has made it possible for me to have trained my soul to always be on the lookout for the bad in life in ways that makes it difficult for those I love to be around me from time to time.
Attitudes are contagious. In other words, what one person might be feeling about a situation can quickly be something that others feel and then adopt in their own lives. When it is a positive attitude, contagious is a good thing. When it is a bad attitude, contagious is something we want to avoid.
I believe my attitude problem has come from the fact that I have viewed much of my life as a victim laced proposition. Victim thinking has weaseled its way into my identity and that has made it so easy to face challenging situations with an attitude that does nothing but spawn victims all around me. I want that to change and it is!
I came across a quote that has started to make me change how I approach the bad in my life. It goes like this, "If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude." Maya Angelou has it right. There are lots of things in our life that we can't change - bad things included at times. If we can't change the situation, we have the ability to change our attitude.
That last statement isn't an admonition to be happy about where you are when you find yourself in places you'd rather not be. It is a statement of how to go through the circumstance with as much power and control as you can, even when you are powerless and have no control over the outcome of that situation.
The Bible is pretty clear about what attitude we should have in all things good and bad. Check out today's reading with me. It says;
Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (MSG)
No matter what - good or bad, happy or sad... be cheerful. That is so hard for me to do - how about you? I so want to be this way but find that it takes time for me to come around to this kind of an attitude when I don't get what I want. I'm done with beating myself up over the fact that my knee jerk reaction is to have a not so great attitude at first. As long as I am moving towards being thankful for the fact that God is for me in the midst of challenging times, I think I'm heading in the right direction. For that I'm so grateful!
Please don't read into today's Bible verse and believe that you are to be happy about the badness that might come against you. Being happy and having a good attitude aren't necessarily the same thing. Attitude is all about perspective. Our reading today tells us that through communion (aka prayer) we can get to a place where attitude can be what it is suppose to be in our lives.
As you face your day today realize that your attitude is really the only thing that you have the power to change in this world. The economy may come against you. People may fight you every step of your day. Time may not be on your side. You can't change the economy. You can't change people. You surely can't change the physics of time. But, you can change your attitude.
Take everything you face today to God in prayer. Leave it there for him and walk away to face your giants with the realization that hope is yours for the taking. Let that hope be what fuels an attitude that can't be swayed by the shifting winds of our world. As a Child of God we need our attitude to reflect the promise of an amazing future we have in Christ. Don't let your circumstances change who you are and how you live out that identity God has given you.
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