Thinking About ...

Excellent Mary!! It is all in how I perceive things!! I think that must be a human shortcoming...to not look at the whole picture negatively, but instead to find something positive out of it.

I try to look for the positive, but sometimes it's just so dang hard!!! LOL
Great article.

May I please make a poster of this and gift my children for christmas?
I love it...it is not what happens, in life--it is what we make it mean.
We are the meaning-makers.
Good on you for bring this up for discussion.
Wilka

Thanks for the reminder. It was very special for me.

Circumstances are overwhelmingly important in one's life. If you are not lucky enough to have good circumstances, a good atitude gives you a chance but no more than a chance.

I am one of the most lucky of people. I also have a good attitude. But even now circumstances could overwhelm me as they could anyone despite my attitude.

This is why it is so important to support other people, especially when they have bad things happen to them. People really do need your kind words and sympathy. If someone is depressed due to their situation you can be of great help just because you show you care about them. Make other people's circumstances better.

yes I believe that is true

someone published a similar item yesterday on the glass being half full vs. half empty, and there was a lot of discussion on attitude being what decides that. A good attitude more than likely sees it half full. (though one of the engineers said the glass was simply made too large).

Very good. I do try to get back up when knocked down, and I try to wipe off when dumped on, but some days are just a very tough do. I put a lot of effort into keeping a positive attitude and outlook on life. I like the idea of making this a poster. It would make a great addition to my writing room.

Sometime yes, but then sometimes no.

Circumstances do indeed make a difference. I remember this guy I worked with that his mom in the summer when she went to work would tie him to a tree out back and put a bucket of water out there with a dipped that he could use to drink out of. He wound up fine.

But then I also remember this Mormon boy who was the son of a good friend of my wife's. He had a chemical imbalance of the hormones in his brain. He was big and others would always stay out of his way as he would turn to violence at the wrong word and always beat the stuffings out of whoever said it. He didn't graduate but managed to pass the GED and got a job as a fireman. This all was after the problem he had was found and he took his medication. Then one day after he was married they had a newborn and he killed the baby, it was an accident, his medication had worker it's way out of his system and he went into a rage and killed the baby.

Later he was tried and sentenced to death. His mother fought that sentence for four or more years and finally was able to get it overturned to life without parole. Now he's in jail for the rest of his life down in Texas and as he's so big and strong no one bothers him. But now he raises dogs and trains them for the blind. So all is fine there also at this time.

However, Winston I work with him for several years and one day he tried to stop a bar fight down in south central LA and was shot and killed. Winston was also a big and strong guy and boxed as a hobby. Life didn't work so well for him. One could say that he shouldn't have gone to the bar that night. But that's not Winston. He went, he did stop the fight, as the cops were called, but he was killed.

So there you go.

By the way Polyanna never did so well either as I remember.

nice

Please feel free to make a poster but I forgot to put the author's name. It is

Joshua Homer Miller

I like the part about color in the quote.

The more life I experience, the more I realize how much my attitude sculpts the reality of my life. I have begun to keep track of how I look at things, and how I notice others look at things and events, and am amazed at the difference attitude makes in our lives.

Good advice! Now most of us need to be taught how to keep a good positive attitude. Life interfers just too darn much.

This is good advice, but it's so hard for me to do. I really want to go through life with a better attitude, but gosh it's difficult!

Yes, there are always choices, and we can usually make a change in those choices, as well.

Agreed.

Mary I think you have a very good attitude.

I believe that life is what we make of it. We have the power to make it better by learning what works for us and what doesn't work. If we don't succeed at one thing try another. Never think of ourselves as failures because we didn't succeed by rather consider what we have learned from the experience that we can use to make the next experience better.

Attitude is everything, it can make a day or just ruin it! Thanks for the reminder to keep an open mind!

that is sooo true... i've seen the difference with my own eyes...

Very well said! We make our lives what we choose it to be. 10.

Thanks Mary - excellent reminders... And very well said!

Yours is that next better thought that we can all achieve. Thanks.

I came back to read this again. I so agree with you!

Great quote, Mary! Sending a 10 your way!

So true. Even if circumstances present a challenge, it is your attitude about it that determines the outcome many times. Don't be defeated; take the high road! Great quote.

I only wish parents would work harder to instill that positive attitude in their children. I grew up with no self esteem, feeling that I was worthless, as that is what I was constantly told. I first tried to commit suicide at eight years old... I shudder as I think of that, as my youngest turns eight tomorrow. Fortunately, I have found a wonderful therapist, who is working with me on my own esteem issues and outlook. I have some wonderful friends and family, and a positive relationship with God, which is helping. One thing I have always done, however, that has helped me get through, is to ensure that my children grow up with the best self esteem possible. I know there are days I have told them, well over a hundred times, that I love them, they are wonderful and they are beautiful. I thank God that he instilled that desire to be a loving parent in my heart. I am just so saddened by the parents who don't care, or who don't want to take the time to care.

"The mind to choose!" Those are the words i live with. Indeed Mary... you're right. It took me years to figure out what you've mentioned in your article. Sometimes, suffering clouds up a person's mind, if only we can always remind ourselves to keep the positive vibe.
Cheers!

I just wanted to come back and read this again, Good night Mary

very nice - great message

I really like that message!

OH so POWERFUL ! Positive attitude brings on positive change but when I realized something about 'thoughts don't really become things' any time we believe we are giving them creedence, I suspect I missed something, so I wrote this . . .

dreaming or thinking?
What do you think ?