Friday, April 18, 2008

Attitude Is Everything

A few days ago I asked for inspiration and boy am I getting it. This is the third article that I have written today. I am not posting them all on the same day. I am spreading the inspiration out so as to not bombard you with too much information all on one day. This week's lesson in Andrea Hess' class "The 7 Keys to Intuitive Development" is to "Ask. Ask. Ask." for what we want in the form of intuitive information from our guides. Andrea says most of us don't ask for intuitive information. This article is the one of the fruits of my asking for inspiration.

Here is an email article that I received today from a friend. It is an email that goes around the internet quite frequently. I read it, enjoy it and pass it on to friends every time that I get it. This time I decided to share it with my readers as well. It is an attitude that I intend to put to use in my life. I don't know the original source of the information. I would give you full credit if I did. I love your message. Here it is:



"John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, 'If I were any better, I would be twins!'

He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, 'I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?' He replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or ... I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or ... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose to point out the positive side of life.'

'Yeah, right, it's not that easy,' I protested. 'Yes, it is,' he said. 'Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life.'

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks in intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be twins ... Wanna see my scars?' I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

'The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,' he replied. 'Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or ... I could choose to die. I chose to live.'

'Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?' I asked. He continued, '.. the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action.

'What did you do?' I asked. 'Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,' said John. 'She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'GRAVITY'!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude .. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.


Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday."



In the email you are given the choice to delete the email or to send it on to your friends and family. Instead, I chose to share it with you.

To live life fully or less than full is a choice that we each make every day. Whether we are aware or not, we do choose. How are you going to live today? I make the choice to live my life fully for today. Tomorrow I may choose differently, who knows? Tomorrow is just that, a day that hasn't gotten here yet. Tomorrow, I will choose again. Today, have a glorious day.
Patricia

5 comments:

Patricia Singleton said...

I now have written 100 articles for this blog. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you to God, my guides and angels and other people for the inspiration to write these 100 articles.

Thank you to my readers for taking the time to read and comment on those articles. Without you, I wouldn't have the encouragement to continue to write. Your comments mean the world to me. Keep them coming.

Thank you to Slade Roberson for initially pushing me to set up this blog and for telling me that I am a talented writer with something worth saying.

Everybody have a glorious day.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, Patricia!

It is so obvious how you feel about all you have created, I can feel the goodness with you. So thank you.

Patricia Singleton said...

Barbara, I am obliged to say that my ego really loves the praise. Thank you. I am smiling.

Anonymous said...

As you can see, I'm a little late coming in for this post and congratulations to you for the big 100.

You do have a lot to say and I'm happy to read and learn.

Enjoyed the story on attitude. Everything is a choice - we don't always realize it, sometimes, as we want to play the victim. But, nevertheless, we get to choose. It all comes back to taking responsibility for our lives.

I'll be on the look out for the next 100 coming my way.

Blessings,

Patricia Singleton said...

Pat, thank you. I have my first anniversary coming up soon. On June 1, 2007, I posted my first article on my blog. I haven't been writing much lately, still on hold, taking a break or whatever. I am way behind on reading my favorite blogs. Yours is included in my favorites.