Attitude

I've written a lot about attitude over the years. It stems from complicated belief systems that most of us arrive at with very little conscious thought. This week, in particular, I have been made vividly aware of some of my own beliefs; a number of writer friends have been struggling with our difficult field of endeavour, their belief systems showing through as a result; and I, due to a reconnect with an old love, have been forced to evaluate both my marriage and my behaviour, each an exercise involving strong beliefs.

Why any of us feel the things we do, anguish, joy, love, even sadness are functions of our beliefs; we tend to approach our feelings and, often, our behaviours as things that must be controlled, failing to understand these are symptoms of much larger issues: the beliefs which are being accessed regarding the moment at hand.

Attitude is indeed complicated. As my thoughts and suggestions regarding this subject have been documented in different ways in all of my self-help books (available at www.claytonbye.com), I am not going to repeat them here. Instead, let's take a look at the words of someone else:

"[Attitude is] more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is, you have a choice every day regarding the attitude you will embrace for that day. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the enevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. And so it is with you..."

--Author Charles Swindell




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