Thursday, April 8, 2010

An Attitude of Gratitude

“Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.” ~Brian Tracy


Everyday that you wake up you will have choices to make. The first one will be whether or not to get out of bed and face your responsibilities. If you manage to get through that choice then there will be hundreds more to face you today. For people who deal with depression, that can be the most challenging and most overwhelming thing to face. However, if you can choose to let it empower you then it’s a beautiful thing. Your attitude is always a choice.

I can get out of bed angry because I have to go to work or I can choose to be grateful for the job I have waiting for me. How you choose to look at this decision is also a choice. You can view life with either an optimistic or a pessimistic approach. It’s your call.

I believe optimism can be learned. It can be achieved in part through an attitude of personal control. "Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life" by Martin Seligman, is a book I had to read in college for a Psychology class. This book changed my idea of optimism. "Personal control means the ability to change things by one’s voluntary actions: it is the opposite of helplessness." This quote from the book is the main theme. Making good choices everyday about your life is exactly what it means to have personal control. You can always choose how you react and respond to all the situations life presents you. This is how you achieve the personal control to tackle those difficult days.

I will make this a great day! I will do that by finding the moments in my day to be thankful for and to stay focused on the positive and eliminate the negative. That is my mission statement today.

1. I am thankful that I can look above my cube wall and see a beautiful blue sky outside today. Blue is my favorite color and it makes me very happy.

2. This morning Adam and I chatted on black berry messenger and my friend called me from L.A. I am going to lunch with my girlfriends for lunch and then I am going to see a man about a sweet dog this evening.

3. My hair curled just right for once instead of going flat. Now girls, we all know that is always something to be thankful for. HAHA!

4. I am so happy that my work environment is very friendly and cooperative.


5. I am very thankful for my peaceful life.

Cyn

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