Attitude

“A cheerful heart does good like medicine, but a broken spirit makes one sick.” Proverbs 17:22

By John E. Schrock, Businessman

Underline the key concepts found in this principle.

Attitude - Webster describes it as a posture, one's mental state of mind, or one's disposition. We hear much about positive mental attitude. Attitude is one's disposition, good or bad. So when we meet someone, we can easily determine what state of mind they are in by their attitude. The above quotation, "Blessed are the pure in heart," is saying that blessed, or happy, are the people who are in the right frame of mind - sound, stable, rational and positive. The end result of this is - they will see God. But, how do we get into such a positive mental attitude and right state of mind?

First, we must take charge of our mind. We must discipline it and feed it on a diet of healthy mind food. We must develop it into a predetermined code or creed of what we want to become. The mind is similar to a muscle, which can be developed by exercising. It can be trained and disciplined to function according to our will.

Second, we must choose our destiny; that is, we must choose to become something, such as a positive, happy and successful person. A mind cannot be positive without a direction or track to run on. It will focus on something; if we don't give it direction, it will go to the path of least resistance. In order to be happy, things need to happen. In order to be successful, we need a goal. And in order to be positive, we need to be focused on "I can" and "I will," while we are on our mission to connect with our preset destiny.

Third, we must see beyond the present. Along the way in pursuit of happiness or success, we will run into situations. Within every situation, we must see the future which will take us one step closer to our goal. This brings hope, and hope stimulates and motivates us into action to overcome the situations. Whenever we have discouraging thoughts, we must refocus on our goal and the rewards of overcoming.

Fourth, we must have the right foundation. It's one thing to believe, but another thing to have the right to believe. Your positive confession must be based on truth in order to have positive results. Just because you decide to not believe in gravity does not mean that it has lost it's effect. With every goal, there must be the right reason; with every dream, there must be a right purpose; and for success, there must be right principles. Success is guarded by problems. To get the gold medal we must solve the problems. To solve the problems, we need courage and persistence. Therefore, it is a learning experience to get the gold. In the end, what we learn in getting the medal is more valuable than the gold itself. As the Lord said, "Blessed (or happy) are the pure in heart (right state of mind)." They shall see God, or get the gold medal. And happy are the people who have developed the right state of mind, for they shall see God or discover God behind every situation and problem. Once we get to this state of mind, our attitude will be positive because we won't be afraid of the problems, for we know what is behind them. It's like a treasure hunt, always looking beyond the situation. In fact, we can become dangerously positive, where we become so fearless that we could do stupid things by getting out of touch with reality.

A positive attitude will give us a great future. A negative attitude will keep us close to the present, with very little progress. They both cause a measure of stress. Negative people worry and fear, while positive people push to conquer. But happy are the pure in heart for they shall see God in everything and get the King's gold ring of prosperity.

This principle is part of the one year character development program: Foundations For Achievement.

Thoughts to Ponder:
If we do what we know we should, all the odds should be in our favor.