Attitude Check!

I have great memories of being in college living with a group of guys in an old adobe ranch house that was over 100 years old and had many ghosts from the past looming around it. We were fortunate that the owner who had cattle on approximately 100 acres of land didn’t really care much about this historic building. So we were able to get by with only paying around $15 a month for each of us for rent. This meant that necessities like plumbing, water supply and an ongoing challenge with large insects fell to us. We also faced a few challenges when the rancher would gather up the calves after they were old enough to be sold. We always had a few of the cows make their way into our old ranch house looking for their wayward ‘kids’.

It was during my stay in this ranch house that I discovered that not everyone were morning people that woke up with a smile and a got get it type of attitude. I had one roommate that I seriously believed needed psychiatric help because he always woke up with a frown, took forever to move and always gave me this look of get out of here before I do something I will regret. Looking back I realize my roommate was the typical college student and I was the odd ball that loved getting up early and loving life.

I have been taught from birth that our attitude so often determines the outcome of our day, week or month. I was given the simple analogy of the proverbial cup being either half full or half empty. I really didn’t think that this was that big of a deal until I had kids, got involved with working with all types of people and now living in a marginalized neighborhood. I see that too often a person’s attitude is the determining factor for whether this person gets a job, finds a mate or actually enjoys life. I have been fortunate to have an attitude of gratitude most of my life. It is the one who has a frown and is the naysayer that always bothers me.

So what actually determines whether a person becomes a half full versus a half empty type of person? Is this strictly a mental exercise that one practices daily or is it some type of genetic code that you are either cursed to be a grump or an early riser that annoys everyone? I definitely see the result in what happens with the person who is willing to rise before dawn to organize their day and be prepared instead of the person who is sleep deprived and struggles to do simple tasks. I know that saying thank you was something that my parents drilled into me to realize that everything I have is truly a gift that initially was a byproduct of my parent’s life choices. Yet, as I’m around too many that have grumpy attitudes and would rather snooze and loose then rise and shine I see the impact of having an attitude of gratitude.

So make the decision now to be a person who can have an attitude of gratitude and seek to see the good in others and in yourself! Watch out grumps and half empty types the world isn’t going to be run by you.