LIFE’S ATTITUDES
In the field of human endeavor, Attitude is everything. In any situation many outcomes are possible, but the final result, positive or negative, is much less dependant upon ability than it is on attitude. This is probably the most powerful of the multiple components of human behavior.
Attitude can be defined as a complex psycho-physical state involving the total emotional make-up of the individual, including feelings, beliefs, values and disposition, resulting, if it is not consciously modified, in a predictable response. Simply put, attitude is a function of interpretation rather than reality. Henry David Thoreau, the great 19th century American philosopher, very precisely and accurately described this state of affairs as follows:
“It’s not what you look at, that matters,
……It’s what you see.”
In my practice, by way of demonstration to my patients, I often used this simple sketch to illustrate the impact of attitude on subsequent behavior;
You are standing outside your home and you notice in the distance that a person was approaching you with his hands raised and holding an object. If you thought the object was a knife, you would quickly turn and run away, but if you thought he was bringing you a gift, you will turn and run towards him. His action has not changed, but your attitude would determine your subsequent behavior. If in fact he was bringing you a gift, he would appreciate your coming forward, and be disappointed if you ran away. As you no doubt would expect, his subsequent expectation and therefore his attitude toward you will be affected by your action.
It is not difficult to understand that unless we are very careful in correctly interpreting attitudes of others toward us, we are likely to make the situation worse by our resulting response. So much of our pain and suffering can be avoided, or at least modified, if we take time to understand the impact of attitude on our lives and the need to adapt to the changes as they appear.
Equally, in a global context, success or failure, trust or distrust, joy or anger, belief or disbelief, love or hate, even peace or war, all have their foundation on people’s attitude and their willingness to recognize and adapt to changes. Every day we witness examples of how “attitude” is manipulated by people to achieve their own, personal aims. From the businessman, who uses subtle advertisements to get you to use his products, or the politician, who, by a mixture of fear, lies, threats and promises is able to harness your support and commitment to achieve his agenda, or the religious leader, who by deliberately misrepresenting other’s views is able to persuade members to reject them. These are but a few examples of many that operate in our day-to-day living that form the very foundation of existence.
The unfortunate tragedy of this situation is that despite the fact that we are all aware of the impact of attitude on our life, we seem to have difficulty in recognizing and changing our attitudes. As a result we continue to repeat our mistakes over and over. We appear to be conditioned to hold on to existing attitude even though they are clearly causing us unnecessary inconvenience, rather than make the effort to adapt. This behavior is not significantly different from the addictive model where the individual continues the pathological behavior despite efforts to correct. Like the addict, they would rather risk pain and suffering with their current attitude than make the effort to seek an alternative, more appropriate solution. In the end everyone, both individually and globally, will continue to suffer because of prejudice, fear, uncertainty and manipulation and continue to view everyone else with distrust and suspicion.
But change is possible if we could learn to adopt positive attitudes and to work to neutralize negative attitudes. Over and over we have witnessed, both at the individual as well as the group level, that growth and development take place after positive attitudes have taken hold. We have all seen seemingly entrenched hostilities and distrust replaced by respect and sharing, and life-long enemies become friends. However, this will not occur by just talking about what has to be done, but rather by a slow and deliberate process of desensitization so that people become less resistant to receiving correct information and rejecting negative ones. Under these circumstances people are more likely to be more receptive and less inclined to distrust or fear change, and as a result, more willing to undergo modification in attitude.
Above all, what we need to do is to redouble our efforts both as individuals and globally,
to do everything in our power to encourage positive attitudes and reject negative attitudes, to be more receptive to positive efforts from others and to always examine our behavior to ensure that we bring the right attitude to our life and our interactions. By doing this consistently and deliberately, we might begin to grow positively and perhaps we could take to heart the profound observation of the very talented American ice-skater Scott Hamilton:
In the field of human endeavor, Attitude is everything. In any situation many outcomes are possible, but the final result, positive or negative, is much less dependant upon ability than it is on attitude. This is probably the most powerful of the multiple components of human behavior.
Attitude can be defined as a complex psycho-physical state involving the total emotional make-up of the individual, including feelings, beliefs, values and disposition, resulting, if it is not consciously modified, in a predictable response. Simply put, attitude is a function of interpretation rather than reality. Henry David Thoreau, the great 19th century American philosopher, very precisely and accurately described this state of affairs as follows:
“It’s not what you look at, that matters,
……It’s what you see.”
In my practice, by way of demonstration to my patients, I often used this simple sketch to illustrate the impact of attitude on subsequent behavior;
You are standing outside your home and you notice in the distance that a person was approaching you with his hands raised and holding an object. If you thought the object was a knife, you would quickly turn and run away, but if you thought he was bringing you a gift, you will turn and run towards him. His action has not changed, but your attitude would determine your subsequent behavior. If in fact he was bringing you a gift, he would appreciate your coming forward, and be disappointed if you ran away. As you no doubt would expect, his subsequent expectation and therefore his attitude toward you will be affected by your action.
It is not difficult to understand that unless we are very careful in correctly interpreting attitudes of others toward us, we are likely to make the situation worse by our resulting response. So much of our pain and suffering can be avoided, or at least modified, if we take time to understand the impact of attitude on our lives and the need to adapt to the changes as they appear.
Equally, in a global context, success or failure, trust or distrust, joy or anger, belief or disbelief, love or hate, even peace or war, all have their foundation on people’s attitude and their willingness to recognize and adapt to changes. Every day we witness examples of how “attitude” is manipulated by people to achieve their own, personal aims. From the businessman, who uses subtle advertisements to get you to use his products, or the politician, who, by a mixture of fear, lies, threats and promises is able to harness your support and commitment to achieve his agenda, or the religious leader, who by deliberately misrepresenting other’s views is able to persuade members to reject them. These are but a few examples of many that operate in our day-to-day living that form the very foundation of existence.
The unfortunate tragedy of this situation is that despite the fact that we are all aware of the impact of attitude on our life, we seem to have difficulty in recognizing and changing our attitudes. As a result we continue to repeat our mistakes over and over. We appear to be conditioned to hold on to existing attitude even though they are clearly causing us unnecessary inconvenience, rather than make the effort to adapt. This behavior is not significantly different from the addictive model where the individual continues the pathological behavior despite efforts to correct. Like the addict, they would rather risk pain and suffering with their current attitude than make the effort to seek an alternative, more appropriate solution. In the end everyone, both individually and globally, will continue to suffer because of prejudice, fear, uncertainty and manipulation and continue to view everyone else with distrust and suspicion.
But change is possible if we could learn to adopt positive attitudes and to work to neutralize negative attitudes. Over and over we have witnessed, both at the individual as well as the group level, that growth and development take place after positive attitudes have taken hold. We have all seen seemingly entrenched hostilities and distrust replaced by respect and sharing, and life-long enemies become friends. However, this will not occur by just talking about what has to be done, but rather by a slow and deliberate process of desensitization so that people become less resistant to receiving correct information and rejecting negative ones. Under these circumstances people are more likely to be more receptive and less inclined to distrust or fear change, and as a result, more willing to undergo modification in attitude.
Above all, what we need to do is to redouble our efforts both as individuals and globally,
to do everything in our power to encourage positive attitudes and reject negative attitudes, to be more receptive to positive efforts from others and to always examine our behavior to ensure that we bring the right attitude to our life and our interactions. By doing this consistently and deliberately, we might begin to grow positively and perhaps we could take to heart the profound observation of the very talented American ice-skater Scott Hamilton:
“The only disability in life is a bad attitude.”
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Attitude is everything.
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Attitude is everything.
Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
Live simply, Love generously, Care deeply, Speak kindly, and
Leave the rest to God.
Leave the rest to God.
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass,
It's about learning to dance in the rain.
……… Author Unknown
……… Author Unknown
Excellence is not a skill. It is an Attitude.
……..Ralph Marston
The greatest discovery of my generation is that;
a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.
.......William James
Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.
…….Winston Churchill
A positive Attitude causes a chain reaction
of positive thoughts, events and outcomes.
It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results.
........Wade Boggs
There are no menial jobs, only menial Attitudes.
……William J. Bennett
A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances,
but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.
………Hugh Downs
People are not disturbed by things,
but by the attitude they take of them.
……Epictetus
Our Attitude toward life, determines Life’s attitude towards us.
….John N. Mitchell
Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you;
As by the Attitude you bring to life.
……Khalil Gibran
Attitude: It is our best friend or our worst enemy.
…… John C. Maxwell
Weakness of Attitude becomes weakness of character.
…..Albert Einstein.
I discovered I always have choices:
Sometimes it may only be a choice of Attitude.
……Author Unknown
If you don’t like something, change it.
If you can’t change, then change your attitude.
……Maya Angelou
The Problem is not usually the problem;
The problem is your Attitude about the problem.
……Author Unknown
Your Attitude is more important that your Aptitude.
…… Zig Zigler
A strong positive mental Attitude will create more miracles,
than any Wonder Drug.
……Patricia Neal
The greatest part of happiness depends on our Attitude;
Not on our Circumstances.
….Martha Washington
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