If you could be anything and do anything, who would you be and what would you do? Most people do not recognize the power available to them in their own mind. Winston Churchill once said: "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference." He should know. After all, he led his country against all odds to fight off a bitter enemy and eventually (with a little help from friends) snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Where would the world be today if Churchill had not let his nation to challenge Hitler and believed, contrary to all evidence, they could succeed in that battle? Nothing is no more powerful than what we believe. If we believe that we can achieve then we can. If we believe that we are doomed to failure then we will. Sometimes enacting a change in our lives is as simple as changing our attitude. Think about this quote from Katherine Mansfield: "Could we change our attitude, we should not only see life differently, but life itself would come to be different." That is a very powerful message but you have to really bring it to heart. In many ways it is the perfect pitch because the explanation for any failure on your part is simply that you did not believe enough, but I don't think, if you really do believe and embrace this attitude, that you can't possibly fail. If you change your attitude it will change your life. I know it. I live it. I see it every day. You know in your gut it is true. If you have changed your attitude and your life then even if you do not achieve the goal you started with then I don't think it is possible to consider yourself a failure. Words are power. Attitude is power. Combine the two and you have power magnified many times over. If you can harness that power to serve your purpose then nothing can stop you. Too often we waste that power on negative rather than postive actions. We complain about our situation, job, relationships, traffic and the weather. We complain that we are sick and tired and just plain stuck. What is stuck is our attitude. What is stuck is a thought in our minds that we cannot change anything about our lives when the truth is that we have the power to change everything about our lives. We don't have to work in that job, stay in that relationship, drive in that traffic, or live in that weather zone. These are all choices we make -- and even more important we choose how we react to those conditions. As the trite old saying goes, "when life gives you lemons make lemonade". Your attitude determines everything about you and your life. If you choose to be angry and frustrated by your life then your anger and frustration will only continue to grow, but if you choose to become proactive rather than reactive, if you choose to have a different attitude then you can become the person you want and you can lead the life that you want. But you have to believe. It really can be as simple as mind over matter, but you have to believe in the power of your mind. |
