I'm writing not what my own father always said, but ideas that I'm hoping my own sons will remember me for holding dear. The next is "Attitude is Everything." If you look at definitions of "attitude," they break down into mental, posture and position.
Mental: "a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings and values and dispositions to act in certain ways."
Posture: "the arrangement of the body and its limbs."
Position: "relative to a frame of reference (i.e. the horizon or direction of motion)"
The mental aspect affects the posture and position. The mental definition is also spiritual. Many people (especially women and children) are sensitive to other's attitudes. We give off all sorts of communication about our attitudes by our facial expressions, voice volume and inflection, hand gestures, arm placement and body language in general.
On a day-to-day basis, what I'm talking about is "heart attitude." Scripture says "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." I would say, not only the mouth, but the face, the body and the spirit also speak. If my heart is dark, detached, numb, melancholy, mysterious, contemptuous, selfish, cynical, impatient, frustrated, and angry, my mouth, face, body and spirit will exude those attitudes. On the other hand, if my heart is positive, pure, giving, engaged, communicative, uplifted, open, patient and joyful, my mouth, face, body and spirit will exude those attitudes. I know this: The people close to me, especially my wife and children would much rather have the latter than the former.
So, my sons, remember, Dad always said, "Attitude is everything."
Love, Dad
No comments:
Post a Comment