“Outlook determines outcome.”

A thought by James MacDonald (2015-06-18) from his book, Lord, Change My Attitude: Before It's Too Late (p. 120). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

James tells the story that is a very good illustration of this thought. “A farmer stood by the road one day and observed a large wagon filled with household goods moving toward him. Dust flew as the wagon pulled to a stop and the driver shouted, ‘We’re moving from Brownsville to Jonestown. How much farther is it?’ ‘About thirty miles,’ said the farmer. ‘And what kind of people shall we expect to find there?’ asked the traveler. ‘Well, what kind of people did you leave behind in Brownsville?’ ‘Oh, they were so negative and so cheerless, so deceptive and so ungrateful, just a godless bunch, all of them. That’s the main reason we are moving. What kind of people will we find in Jonestown?’ ‘The very same kind, I’m sorry to say,’ said the farmer.”

He goes on, “And he was right. He knew the traveler would find in the next town the same kind of people he perceived lived in Brownsville. Far more often than we care to admit, outlook determines outcome. The way that we look at a matter, the attitude that we choose, has direct bearing on how we experience reality. Two people can look at the very same circumstance and experience it entirely differently based upon the attitude they choose— the patterns of thinking that they have formed over a long period of time.”

So how is your day looking today?

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