Attitude

Attitude...
It is the "advance man" of our true selves.
Its roots are inward but its fruit is outward.
It is our best friend or our worst enemy.
It is more honest and more consistent than our words.
It is an outward look based on past experiences.
It is a thing that draws people to us or repels them.
It is never content until it is expressed.
It is the librarian of our past.
It is the speaker of our present.
It is the prophet of our future.
- The Winning Attitude - John C Maxwell

Webster's dictionary defines attitude as 'a feeling or emotion toward a fact or state'. I think of it as one's reaction to circumstances. I heard this story about a guy who gets shot by some robbers and when the doctors, who are getting ready to operate on him, ask him if he is allergic to anything, he responds "yes sir, bullets!". Now, thats a great attitude. While this sounds good in a story, practicing it in real life takes a lot of work on oneself.
Attitude, whether good or bad, becomes second nature to a person when they repeatedly react in a certain way. But this can be changed. I believe the first step to achieve this is to associate with people who have good attitudes, because attitudes are contagious. Btw, John Maxwell say's, "there is only one thing more contagious than a good attitude – a bad attitude". So associations can be critical. Remember, most of the bad attitudes are a result of selfishness.

so long!...

-SamCam