Change your attitude, change your life

There was a story of a 92-year old delicate but well- poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with his hair fashionably coifed and his face-shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursery home.  His wife of 70 years passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready. As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that has been hung on his window. “ I love it,” he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year old having just presented with a new puppy.

“Mr. Jones, you  haven’t seen the room.” “ That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” he replied. “Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time.  I already decided to love it. It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice. I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with parts of my body that no longer work or get out of bed and be thankful for the one that I do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I’ll focus on the new day, and all the happy memories I’ve stored away. Just for this time in my life.”

The message of the story reminds me of what a host of a TV show said one morning, “Change your attitude, change your life.”  Her statement was worth pondering because some of us are always looking on the negative side of life - on things that we don’t have while focusing on what others have; not realizing that there are some who are struggling their life just to survive. I believe that our attitude matters in our daily journey in life. If we feel that our “glass in life is half- empty and not full, for sure we can never be happy in this world. We have to accept that there are those who are better than us and there are those who are worst than us. We must not overlook the fact that though we might feel that life is unfair, we have to accept that God gifted us with many blessings in His kindness and generosity. It’s just that some of us fail to count our blessings.

There are tips though that can help us create a positive attitude. Life coach Declan Oflaherty of “Tiny Buddha website” cites the following:

Choose to embrace life. Let go and embrace the moment whether it contains an obstacle or an opportunity. Stop tossing on trivial matters and start focusing on what’s really important to you.

Realize that you have to control your reactions. We all have problems and we’re often tested by circumstance outside of our control. Even though you may not be in control of what’s going on outside of you, you definitely can control your reaction to those situations.

Journey well. Be content with where you are today and don’t make the mistake of putting off being happy. Not everyone wake up this morning and not everyone will go to bed tonight. Every minute you are living is a blessing.