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CHOICES | 2016 AUTUMN ISSUE
that causes either positive or negative experiences to manifest in our lives.
easy to replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts.
Time and again, we hear that having a positive attitude is the key to all success in life. And it is!
I remember reading many years ago a quote by American psychologist, Professor William James that said, “As you think, so shall you be.” These words have resonated in my mind ever since and I work daily to discipline my mind to maintain a positive focus. When we allow our minds to be filled with fear and doubt, or anger and hatred, these are the times when we scare away any chance of the success that we want to achieve.
The exciting thing, if only we would realize it, is that our attitude is one of the few things in life over which we have complete control. We can close our minds to failures, negative people, and circumstances of the past. We can discipline our minds to take possession of our thoughts. Otherwise, we can be influenced by anything and everything in life and let chance and circumstance happen to us. I know it’s not always
Attitude is the outward expression of our inner feelings. Our thoughts create
our feelings. Our feelings determine our behaviors. When we improve our thoughts, we improve our feelings. That will improve our behavior and will bring us improved results. When things happen to us, we can choose to believe it happened for a reason. Even in the most difficult of experiences, if we look for them, we will find opportunities. It is what we think about the experience that determines how we respond to it. If we think, “This is a disaster,” it certainly will be. If on the other hand, we think, “There’s an opportunity in here somewhere,” and look for it, we will most certainly find it.