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You are here: Home / Self Help Daily / Daily Quote / Attitude: The Heart and Soul of Everything

Attitude: The Heart and Soul of Everything

November 27, 2009 by Joi 8 Comments

Book links are usually affiliate links. This means I earn a small percentage when you click through and buy the book. This costs you nothing extra - it simply allows me to keep my cats in the lifestyle they're accustomed to.

Chuck Swindoll on the importance of attitude:

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, 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, or an individual.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for the day. We cannot change our past … we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. 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 ten percent what happens to me and ninety percent how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.

“I am convinced that life is ten percent what happens to me and ninety percent how I react to it.” I completely agree with Mr. Swindoll on that one. How often do we compound a bad situation – making it much worse than it needs to be?  About as often as we make mountains out of ant hills!

Last night, I was lying in the floor with my cat Alexa – watching a little football and nursing a MAJOR toothache (my cooking marathon included about a gazilion Advils, two gazillion salty mouth rinses, and a couple billion, “Owwwww’s,” all of which did nothing – then I sat at the feast with my loved ones and couldn’t even eat!).  I heard my husband at his computer (which is in the middle of what surely must be a slow death).  After an ominous “restarting” sound from the computer, I heard my husband say something like, “Yes.  That’s what I was hoping you’d do.”

No throwing pens, no turning the air blue… just a little sarcastic jab at a machine that deserved much more.  I asked him if he was encouraging it now and he said it didn’t do any good to do anything else.

True enough.   I’ve said it many, many times on this blog – and even more times in my day to day life:  Sometimes you just have to say, “It is what it is. ”  It’s one of my most used phrases and, somehow, it always helps.  Another of my favorites is, “If this is the worst thing that happens to me this year, I’ve got it made.”

Bad, unsavory, and sometimes even ugly things are going to happen to us and around us.  And if you’re still waiting for life to be fair…. excuse me while I chuckle.  The amazing thing is, it’s well within our power to make these things worse or better.  “I am convinced that life is ten percent what happens to me and ninety percent how I react to it.”

Filed Under: Daily Quote, General, Positive Thought Tagged With: attitude quote, positive attitude, quote about attitude

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Philip says

    November 27, 2009 at 10:37 am

    “It is what it is.” Or as a friend of mine put it, “life is life.” I like the phrase “don’t sweat the small stuff.” Attitude makes a big difference, you are 110% correct, Joi.
    .-= Philip´s last blog ..Thinking happy thoughts =-.

  2. joi says

    November 27, 2009 at 10:49 pm

    Don’t sweat the small stuff is advice most excellent, Philip! – Joi

  3. Grampa Ken on Life and Social Change says

    November 29, 2009 at 8:54 am

    It is so true that undesirable situations do not directly cause bad feelings, but it is what we think of these situations. Changing our thoughts can have an enormous effect on how we feel.
    “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.” – John Milton
    .-= Grampa Ken on Life and Social Change´s last blog ..Corporate Media and News Bias =-.

  4. joi says

    November 29, 2009 at 10:22 am

    Ken, I absolutely LOVE that John Milton quote. Countless people’s lives would be changed forever if they ever got their minds completely around that truth! – Joi

  5. Jordan Bryant says

    November 29, 2009 at 6:55 pm

    Good post. “It is what it is” and “Shit happens” are over used phrases, but still important concepts to understand if you’re going to be successful in this world.

    Oh and I had to mass produce chicken rosemary for thanksgiving. I had to dice 5 onions. I damn near cried in agony when i diced the fourth onion. haha

  6. joi says

    November 30, 2009 at 9:43 am

    Jordan, I HATE dicing onions! Kroger sells bagged chooped frozen onions, but they were sold out right before Thanksgiving. Broke my heart. Apparently I’m not the only one in town who enjoys a great shortcut and tear-free eyes!

  7. Kendall says

    December 11, 2013 at 1:09 am

    “I am convinced that life is ten percent what happens to me and ninety percent how I react to it.”

    Totally agree. It’s just how we look at problems and how we handle them…

Trackbacks

  1. Learning to Like Yourself |Self Esteem | Finding Yourself says:
    July 15, 2010 at 7:16 pm

    […] They come across as angry at the world because they’re angry at themselves.  Their attitude sucks because, as far as they’re concerned, something about their life […]

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