Choosing Your Attitude

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The other day I received the following questions from a friend via Facebook:

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Is stating super happy comments really and truly helping your happiness? Yes it is very therapeutic.

What else do you do to make your mind happy? Pray, listen to pastors who give uplifting sermons, read motivational/inspirational books, listen to motivational/inspirational music, do not dwell on things that make me unhappy or talk at length to unhappy people, view my cup as half full nit half empty, and surround myself with uplifting people.

Have you always done it or were you going through stuff and had to focus and force it more? I was always a happy person but I did have an incident that made me realize that life is too short not to enjoy every minute.

My childhood was a pretty happy one, the youngest of five, three sisters and one brother. Our home was normally full of excitement and laughter with the occasional disagreement just like any other family.  My mother was the head of the household and ran it as such. She was and still is full of energy, always in good spirits and loves to have a good time.  Just from my observations of my mother, I grew up believing the good times out weighed the bad times and not much made her angry.

As I began to mature, I remembered how my mother handled her day and I wanted to do the same. There will be things and people that will attempt to ruin the day but I had to learn to develop barriers to protect my positive attitude. One of my favorite things to do when I feel my mood is changing is listening to gospel music. Gospel music reassures me that God is still in control and no weapon formed against me shall prosper. I log into the Richard Smallwood station on Pandora and let the music speak to me. Lately, the song I always play when I need to refocus is, “Lord I’m Available To You” by Rev. Milton Brunson; once I hear it, all is good in the world!

We must remember that the power lies within us to choose our attitude for the day. Things or people will always try to steal our joy but it is up to us to determine their success rate!!