107 – Attitude is everything
I have now shed my cast, and am learning to walk normally again in regular shoes.
Before too long, I hope to be hiking up in the hills around my house again.
It’s been quite a journey on this path of weakness, and I’ve undoubtedly learned a lot enroute.
One thing I’ve learned is: How we perceive things to be is frequently more important than the actual circumstances. And nowhere is attitude more important than when you are sick or recovering from surgery.
Attitude is especially important to keep a handle on as you age.
I recently heard a story concerning two different people living in a nursing home that illustrates the idiom that "attitude is everything."
One man, Richard, is paralyzed from the neck down, and he has been in this facility for 14 years. Richard greets everyone who enters his room with a smile.
The people who visit Richard gain more from their visits than does Richard. He is a daily reminder to be thankful and to check our own attitude.
Another resident, physically stronger, has grown bitter with the years. He resents the situation and declines to be helped.
The difference is attitude.
Of course, a good attitude is easy to write about but very hard to maintain-especially if you are sick or in pain. It occurred to me that it is much easier to maintain during hardship or tests if one has worked at it and maintained the right attitude while one is well.
My own attitude has been patched, repaired, overhauled and adjusted many times during these past 10 months in particular. And I know I still have a ways to go.
The more I focus on it, the easier it becomes, and when it is cheerful and positive, the world is a wonderful place -no matter where I live, and what my circumstances.
next chapter
Before too long, I hope to be hiking up in the hills around my house again.
It’s been quite a journey on this path of weakness, and I’ve undoubtedly learned a lot enroute.
One thing I’ve learned is: How we perceive things to be is frequently more important than the actual circumstances. And nowhere is attitude more important than when you are sick or recovering from surgery.
Attitude is especially important to keep a handle on as you age.
I recently heard a story concerning two different people living in a nursing home that illustrates the idiom that "attitude is everything."
One man, Richard, is paralyzed from the neck down, and he has been in this facility for 14 years. Richard greets everyone who enters his room with a smile.
The people who visit Richard gain more from their visits than does Richard. He is a daily reminder to be thankful and to check our own attitude.
Another resident, physically stronger, has grown bitter with the years. He resents the situation and declines to be helped.
The difference is attitude.
Of course, a good attitude is easy to write about but very hard to maintain-especially if you are sick or in pain. It occurred to me that it is much easier to maintain during hardship or tests if one has worked at it and maintained the right attitude while one is well.
My own attitude has been patched, repaired, overhauled and adjusted many times during these past 10 months in particular. And I know I still have a ways to go.
The more I focus on it, the easier it becomes, and when it is cheerful and positive, the world is a wonderful place -no matter where I live, and what my circumstances.
next chapter
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