"Attitude"

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. It
is more important than the past, 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 everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We
cannot change our past, we cannot change the fact that people act 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% how I react to it. And so it
is with you . . . We are in charge of our attitude."

- Chuck Swindoll

I was given a copy of this quote in Sunday School a few weeks ago, and it's been on my mind ever since. So, I thought I'd share it. It's such a basic concept, yet it's so hard to put into practice some days! (at least for me) This quote has literally consumed my thoughts recently - which is not necessarily a bad thing. This isn't the first time I've heard about this concept, but it seems to have hit close to home this time with some of the stuff going on in my life right now. It makes me wonder why I don't choose joy more often. I'm striving to wake up each morning (or evening . . . depending on when I'm working) :) and decide to have JOY that day - no matter what. The main scripture that the teacher referred to that morning was:

"Be joyful always; pray continually;

give thanks in all circumstances,

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

(emphasis mine)

-1 Thessalonians 5:16-18