ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING.

Here’s a story of two men who were stranded on an unidentified island after their ship capsized. One resigned to fate but the other saw the island as an opportunity to go wherever he chooses - North, South, East or West. As expected, the former died on the island while the latter sailed to the shore of a land flowing with milk and honey. Such is the power of attitude.

According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, “attitude is the way that you think and feel about somebody or something”. Your attitude towards somebody or something will inevitably affect the results you get because bad begets bad, while good begets good. Our attitude affects our vision, our vision affects our reactions, our reactions affect our actions and our actions affect the results we get; you can’t beat it. This explains why only the positive minded excel. Believe me, no situation ever defines the outcome, your attitude does. When you have the right attitude, when others see impending setbacks, you’ll see only opportunities. For instance, Thomas Edison at age 67 in 1914 lost his factory to fire. As he watched his lifetime effort go up in smoke, he was quoted to have said “... there is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burnt up. Thank God we can start anew.” What an attitude! In spite of the deadly blow he received, he still invented the phonograph three weeks later! What other evidence do you need that a right attitude works? Why fail when all you need is a change of attitude?

In Thomas Jefferson’s words, “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” Thus, I implore you to assess your attitude and be truthful to yourself. If your attitude needs to be changed, do not hesitate because a right attitude will inevitably increase you while a bad attitude will always decrease you. Since attitude comes from within, no one can help you make the necessary changes. So, pull yourself up by your bootstraps! No matter how gloomy the situation may be, be positive always. Whatever the challenges may be, you can surmount them if you change your attitude. Change your mindset - recondition yourself to see only the positive sides of every situation and see if providence won’t move in your favor. You bet.

You’ll have nobody but yourself to blame if after your sojourn on this earth you fail to achieve a meaningful goal. Your approach counts, so brainwash yourself. You can influence the outcome of any situation because you are at liberty to entertain the kind of thoughts you choose. You are also at liberty to decide how you feel about any situation, which gives you the advantage to influence the results you get from life. You can turn around your situation. You can win!