A thought by John C. Maxwell from his
book, How High Will You Climb? (p. 31).
HarpersCollins Leadership Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com
to buy the book.)
Wow, that is so true!
John says, “It’s hard to soar with the
eagles when you have to live with the turkeys”
“Turkey-thinking +
turkey-talk = turkey-walk. We quickly
blend into the color of our surroundings. Similarities in thinking, mannerisms,
priorities, talk, and opinions are very common within individual cultures. We
all know married people who grow to look more alike as the year's pass. Many
times, family members exhibit similar physical traits.
“Unquestionably our surroundings help
construct our attitudes too.”
He continues, “The word choices
rises on the opposite side of environment in the attitude construction issue.
Speaking more logically than emotionally, the voice of this word says, ‘We are
free to choose our attitudes.’ This logic becomes more convincing with the
additional voice of Victor Frankl, a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp, who
said, ‘The last of the human freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given
set of circumstances.’
“In our early years, our attitudes are
determined mainly by our conditions. A baby does not choose her family or her
environment, but as her age increases, so do her options.
“A while ago I conducted a leadership
seminar in Columbus, Ohio. For an entire day I talked about the importance of
attitudes and about how many times they make the difference in our lives.
During one of the breaks, a man told me the following story:
“From my earliest recollections I do
not remember a compliment or affirmation from my father. His father also had
thought it unmanly to express affection or even appreciation. My grandfather
was a perfectionist who worked hard and expected everyone else to do the same
without positive reinforcement. And since he was neither positive nor relational,
he had constant turnover in employees.
“Because of my background, it has been
difficult for me to encourage my family. This critical and negative attitude
has hindered my work. I raised five children and lived a Christian life before
them. Sadly, it is easier for them to recognize my love for God than my love
for them. They are all starved for positive affirmation. The tragedy is that
they have received the bad attitude trait, and now I see them passing it down
to my precious grandchildren.
“Never before have I been so aware of ‘catching
an attitude’ from surrounding conditions. Obviously, this wrong attitude has
been passed along for five generations. It is now time to stop it! Today I made
a conscious decision to change. This will not be done overnight, but it will be
done. It will not be accomplished easily, but it will be accomplished!”
John then says, “That story contains
both the conditions that mold our thinking and the choice to change. Both play
a vital part in the construction of our attitude. Neither can be held solely
responsible for forming our mind-set.”
We do though, have a part to play in
handing down attitudes to those around us and to ourselves, don’t we? I don’t want to hold down others or be held
down. I want to soar, don’t you?
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