John C. Maxwell wrote in his book "The Winning Attitude," that attitude is:
- The advance man of our true selves
- Has inward roots but outward fruits
- Is our best friend or worst enemy
- Is more honest and more consistent than our words
- Is an outward look based on past experiences
- Is a thing which draws people to us or repels them
- Is never content until it is expressed
- Is the librarian of our past
- Is the speaker of our present
- Is the prophet of our future
Your mental attitude, touches numerous people. Your willingness to think positively reaches out to your family and to the less known stranger you smile at in the supermarket. An optimist will always realize the opportunity before him during the times of trouble, while a pessimist will focus on the difficulties that the trouble brings.
You must make the decision which one you will concentrate on. Whenever you decide to concentrate on the trouble, you'll condemn yourself to roadblocks to your goal and short circuiting your success. This in turn will damage your future. You can count on that.
So the question for, those that seem to be, the natural pessimist is, how do you begin to think positively? First of all, I don't believe there ARE natural pessimists. They are just people who have been taught how to consider the dark side of every cloud.
You can't alter the reality that a problem exists. When a problem arises it is important that you determine what the opportunities are within that problem. Start to envision the avenues that will lead you over, around, under, or through them as quick as possible. When you are in a positive state of mind consider how rapidly a problem will be behind you.
