“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” said Ralph Emerson. It’s common for us to hear excuses and reasons why some people cannot achieve much in life. Too many people believe that their life is controlled by the circumstances that surround them. It is true that our circumstances and situations affect our life and lifestyle, but if our life is controlled by our circumstances, then we have already become victims who barely survive but never can live the life we were designed to live.
Charles R. Swindoll says: “The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes.”
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”- Ralph Emerson.
Attitude may look like a small piece of the big pie, but this is the one piece that can make a big difference in our life. It’s important for each of us to understand that there are many things in this world that are out of our control, we do not control the weather, we do not control the traffic, we do not control people’s reactions, we do not control natural calamities, we do not control life and death…etc. I cannot dictate the traffic problems, but I can decide how I will react to the traffic jam. The one thing that is in our control is our own attitude and reaction to what happens to us or what happens around us. Our attitude towards circumstances and people is probably the most important thing that determines whether we will live happily or not. Happiness does not depend on how much you have or where you live (even though that may help sometimes), it depends on how you look at life and how you respond to what’s going on in your life.
“The only thing we can do is play the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it.” – Charles Swindoll
John Maxwell gives this insightful illustration on the power of attitude. “Remember the four minute mile? People had been trying to achieve it since the days of the ancient Greeks. In fact, folklore has it that the Greeks had lions chase the runners, thinking that would make them run faster. They also tried drinking tiger’s milk – not the stuff you get down at the health food store, but the real thing. Nothing they tried worked. So they decided it was impossible for a person to run a mile in four minutes or less. And for over a thousand years everyone believed it. Our bone structure is all wrong. Wind resistance is too great. We have inadequate lung power. There were a million reasons.
Then one man, one single human being, proved that the doctors, the trainers, the athletes, and the millions of runners before him, who tried and failed, all were wrong. And, miracle of miracles, the year after Roger Bannister broke the four minute mile; thirty seven other runners broke the four minute mile. The year after that three hundred runners broke the four minute mile. And a few years ago in a single race in New York, thirteen out of thirteen runners broke the four minute mile. In other words, a few decades ago the runner who finished dead last in the New York race would have been regarded as having accomplished the impossible. What happened? There were no great breakthroughs in training. No one discovered how to control wind resistance. Human bone structure and physiology didn’t suddenly improve. But human attitude did.”
Circumstances do have the power to influence our actions, but we should be cautious not to let them alter our attitude. If there is anyone in this world who can have a positive attitude towards life despite what’s going on around, it should be us Christians because we have a God who controls the world and everything that happens in this world. Let us join Paul who said “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” (Phil 4:13). Viktor E. Frankl in his book “Man’s search for meaning” says “We who lived in the concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: The last of his freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Remember, with the right attitude we can always influence or change the world around us.
Circumstances do have the power to influence our actions, but we should be cautious not to let them alter our attitude.
– – Author: Rev. Francis Burgula – –
