“When is attitude most important?”

A thought by John C. Maxwell, from his book, The Difference Maker (p. 41). HarperCollins Leadership. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

That is a very good question, isn’t it?

John says, “When does it make the greatest difference? It’s not during a sporting event or when business gets tough. It’s when life itself is on the line. And in those instances, it truly is the difference maker.

“When I was a pastor, I spent much time with people dealing with tragedies. I’ve visited with a lot of patients before surgery, and the ones who did the best afterward and recovered the most quickly were the people with the best attitudes. I’ve visited many nursing homes. The elderly people who thrive are the ones who are still positive about themselves and their situation. I heard from a nursing home official that the new patients who feel like they were forced into nursing homes and had no other options tended to give up and die sooner than those who saw it as just another phase of life to be met with positively.”

John says “Your attitude has a profound influence on how you see the world—and thus on the way you live out your life.

“Attitude is important. It is so important that it truly is the difference maker. It isn’t everything, but it is one thing that can make a difference in your life.”

John later says, “No one should ever lose a job, miss a promotion, or destroy a marriage because of a poor attitude. Why? Because a person’s attitude is not set; it is a choice. Pastor, professor, and author Chuck Swindoll says,

“Attitude, to me, is more important than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, 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 every day regarding the attitude we embrace for that day. We cannot change our past . . . we cannot change the fact that people 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 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. And so it is with you. . . . [W]e are in charge of our attitudes.1”

So, are you ready to take charge of your attitudes, are you? 

Yes, yes!