Attitude Defines the Day
Have you ever received the e-mail joke, “If you think your job or your life is bad, just imagine if this were you…”? Then there is a picture of a guy cleaning a high-rise on a very windy day, standing on a small scaffold.
Some may look at this and think, “Man, I am sure glad that’s not me.” Others may think, “At least the guy has a job.”
Your attitude really makes a difference.
Let me share a real story about one of my patients. There is no punch line, but there is a lesson to learn.
It started out with pain in his gut. He went to the doctor, who ordered a battery of tests. The result was that he had liver dysfunction. He was placed on the liver transplant list. In the meantime, he started a treatment program, a very intensive medicine regimen.
He received the phone call. “We have a liver for you.” Ecstatic, as you can imagine one would be, he ran across the street to share this good news with his neighbor and was struck by a car. His injuries caused him to lose his place on the transplant list.
Months went by and he healed to the best of his ability. He was placed back on the list. Once again, he got the good news; another liver had become available. He fell down the stairs and broke his hip. Again he lost his place on the list.
He finally received the transplant. He has been healthy for the last few years. I saw him this week. He has hepatitis.
Yet, he is not angry. I wonder how that can possibly be. I wonder if he is past the stage of caring or if he just figures he has lived through everything else that has been thrown at him and this disease is just the next thing on the list.
His attitude carries him through the day. What is your attitude like these days? Are you filled with “gloom and doom”? Are you as “down” as the economy? Is your glass half-empty? Are you thinking life can get better? Is life grand?
Not all of life is perfect.
It’s life and life always involves variables over which we have no control. We can’t predict the future.
But, you can predict your attitude.
In the words of John Homer Miller, “Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens. Circumstances and situations do color life but you have been given the mind to choose what the color shall be.”
Choose your colors wisely!
Have a great week!
Dr. Michael Kaye
Knowledge, Action, Results
Post new comment