IT’S YOUR CHOICE

When you wake up in the morning, you can either say “Good morning, Lord, help me make this a great day,” or you can say, “Good Lord, it’s morning—I dread what’s going to happen today.”

Life is a choice. A great neurologist and Holocaust survivor, Victor Frankl, said, “The last of the human freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

Only you are in charge of your attitude. I believe a Godly attitude toward any situation is more important than the situation itself. I have seen two different people face the same situation. One sees it as an opportunity to grow, and the other sees it as an obstacle that cannot be overcome.

The circumstances don’t dictate how your day will go—your attitude will. A person who is living life to the fullest is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather is a person with a certain set of attitudes.

I heard about a 92-year-old lady. She was petite, well-dressed, and a proud mother. She was fully dressed every morning by 8:00 a.m. Her hair was always perfectly fashioned, even though she was legally blind.

She was moving to a nursing home for the first time because her husband of 72 years had recently passed away. She was a gracious, lovely, positive, dignified woman who had a great attitude about life. She was the kind of person you like to be around.

When she arrived at the nursing home, she had to wait several hours in the lobby. She was patient. She smiled sweetly when she was told that her room was ready. She lifted herself to her walker and started toward the elevator. The supervisor started describing her tiny room, including the sheets that had been hung on her window for curtains. She replied, “I love it.” She was as enthusiastic as a five-year-old boy who had just gotten a new bicycle.

The supervisor said, “Ma’am, you haven’t seen the room. Just wait.” 

The new resident replied, “That doesn’t have anything to do with it. Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged; it’s how I arrange my mind. I have already decided to love it.”

She continued, “When I wake up every morning, I have a decision to make. I can spend the day in bed thinking about all the parts of my body that don’t work well anymore, or I can get out of bed and be thankful for the fact that I’m still alive and most of my body still works well.”

The 92-year-old continued, “Each day is a gift. As long as my eyes are open, I will focus on the new day and all the happy memories I have stored away just for this time in my life.”

Wow, that’s an attitude. The Bible says, “Let this attitude be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5) Today’s happiness will not depend on circumstances as much as your attitude. William Ward said, “The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist projects that the wind will change, but the realist adjusts the sail.”

If yesterday was the worst day of your life, then today will have to be better! You choose your attitude, which will dictate how today goes.

Make this a great day—unless you have other plans.