July 2006

Have you ever seen a car accident and how people respond? One person may be crying. One person may be angry. One person may be quiet. One person may be laughing hysterically. There is no right or wrong way to behave. None of these people are bad for their feelings or reactions. And that is what is important: there are many different ways to react to situations. However, your reaction will make a difference in how you perceive what has happened and what you will do next.

Going back to the car accident, the angry person may become combative and create an atmosphere of tension and unhappiness all around. On the other hand, the quiet person may be able to check to make sure that no one was hurt, get all the information needed, creating an environment of calm. The exact same situation. The only difference is the attitude and behavior that follows from that attitude.

Things happen all the time in our lives. We have no control over what happens, for the most part. What we do have control over is our attitude and behavior. You can choose to see everything negative and horrific. Or you can see it as a cosmic joke needing nothing more than a great deal of laughter. Some attitudes cause heart attacks and strokes. Other attitudes cause healthy levels of your blood pressure.

Which attitude will you choose?