Attitude

Attitude, attitude, here it comes

Rude, selfish, polite or fun.

Positive, negative, what will it be?

Is the glass half empty or full - what do you see?

 

A is for Attitude

Why did I choose attitude for the first entry to my blog? It was a little thing that happened the other day actually. My daughter Jessica, who has Down syndrome, was being stubborn and non-compliant. I blurted out, ‘I don’t like your attitude,’ which I don’t think I’d ever said to her before. A weird feeling passed through me. As a seasoned primary school teacher, I had told my students that I didn’t like their attitudes many times, but never my intellectually impaired daughter. Jessica’s reply was, ‘I am being good Mum.’ She didn’t think she was doing anything wrong… just exercising her right to not do what I wanted her to. Her IPad was more important than following Mum’s instructions to get dressed. It’s all about perspective. Her perspective and mine at that moment, clashed.

We all have attitudes towards whatever we are doing. I remember having a foul attitude towards my Maths 1 tutor, who was trying to help me achieve better grades in senior high school. His helping me, did not change how I felt. My attitude, thus, did not help me to improve my grades either. If I had changed my attitude, maybe I would have eventually passed. Who knows…

Haven’t we all been there at some stage in our life? When life has thrown us a roadblock, whether it was trying to lose weight or dealing with a demanding boss, we have walked away from the situation. Now maybe there are times when walking away could be a good thing. A friend that is leading you into trouble would be one example. But there are other times when it would be much more advantageous to keep on, keeping on. Problem solving, striving, not giving up.

Have you heard the saying, ‘Keep your chin up?’  What does that mean? It’s usually said, by a caring friend, trying to encourage you when things aren’t going well. It means, keep a positive attitude.

Is it nicer to be around people who have an optimistic outlook or a chip on their shoulder about life’s journey? Very few people have it easy. Troubles come, and sometimes it seems that troubles after troubles after troubles, pile on top of you. It is hard to even get out of bed and breathe, let alone be happy and positive. Now, I’m not even saying ‘be happy’. There were times in my life I was absolutely miserable. It was difficult to find anything to be thankful for. It seemed that there was nothing to have a positive attitude about. Some days I had to search for something, like, the sun was shining or a student had drawn me a picture. 

I think I would be entitled to have a low view of the world, with all the things I have been through in my life. But I don’t. Instead I CHOOSE to be thankful for the good things and moments in my life. I choose to focus on what I have, not what I don’t have. I choose to focus on my abilities, not my limitations. And finally, I choose to count my blessings and look for the good in each day. Even if it’s a hug or listening to the birds chirping. I hope you do too. It’s all about perspective.