! ! VALUE FOR THE WEEK: “ATTITUDE & EFFORT” ACTIVITY: #1 - 1: “Attitude & Effort” Article - (2 Things You Control) Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind...”
Do you try to live your life as a thermostat versus being a thermometer? A thermometer changes to the temperature of its environment and a thermostat sets the temperature for the environment. Charles Swindol states, "The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. It is more important than the past, than the facts of any given situation, than education and money, than current circumstances, than failures and successes or what people think, say or do. The remarkable thing is that we have a choice every day, regardless of the attitude that we embrace for that day. We cannot change our past or the fact that a person is acting a certain way; we cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can play is the one string that we have, and that is our attitude. And I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I respond to it. And so it is with you. We are all in charge of our attitudes." We must begin to think that we are born to be winners not losers because we can't lose with the stuff we use when we choose the right stuff. Part of the right stuff is choosing to have, a positive attitude. We cannot choose how many years we may live, but we can choose how much life those years will contain. We cannot control the beauty of our face, but we can control the expression that is on it. We cannot control life's most difficult moment, but we can choose to make life less difficult. We cannot control the negative atmosphere of the world, but we can control the atmosphere of our minds. Too often, we try to control things that we can't, and too seldom we choose to control what we can: our attitude. It is not what happens to me that matters, but what happens in me. God chooses what we go through, but we choose how we go through it. It is not "why" that we should always ask, but "what". The leader's attitude helps determine the attitude of the follower, so are you a thermostat or a thermometer? Your attitude will often times determine the answer to that question. Attitude simply determines altitude -- if we have persistence, courage and fortitude," Attitude is everything. Attitude is the way we think. Attitude is something other people can actually see. They can hear it in your voice, see it in the way that you move, feel it when they are with you. Your attitude expresses itself in everything you all the time wherever you are. A positive attitude invites positive results, and a negative attitude always invites negative result. Attitude makes a difference every hour, everyday, and in everything you do. For your entire life, what you get out of each thing you do will equal the attitude you have when you do it. Anything you do with a positive attitude will work for you. Anything you do with a negative attitude will work against you. If you have a positive attitude, you are looking for ways to solve problems you can solve and you are letting go of things over which you have no control. You can develop a positive attitude by simply emphasizing the good, by being tough-minded, and by refusing defeat. The persistence that we need comes from God, and we can run with perseverance. Someone who gets up even when they think they can't, perseveres and has the never, never, never quit mentality. This person has the courage to stay the course, and sometimes you have to make waves of your own. Courage in never being afraid, but standing in the face of fear.
