Bits of Wisdom Podcast #68

“Our attitude toward life determines life’s attitude towards us.” Earl Nightingale

A great friend of mine often greets me with, “Happy Monday. It’s the best day of the week.” When we talk on Thursdays, his greeting is modified, “Happy Thursday. It’s the fourth best day of the week.”

Over a decade ago, when we were just beginning our friendship, I was unsure how to respond to his unorthodox thinking, but over time, I adopted it.

Years ago, I met with my senior pastor. I was on church staff at the time, leading our volunteer ministry. When I sat down with him, I said, “Pastor, there’s a mass exodus in all of the teams. We are losing a bunch of people.”

“Stop right there,” he said. “Terry, you have to watch your words because you can speak things into existence.”

I’ve had the good fortune of learning from these two wise men. They’ve taught me that attitude and words matter, and that much of life depends on the lens through which we view the world. If we choose to see Mondays or team dysfunction through a negative lens, we will continue to find bad outcomes. But if we decide to view problems or temporary setbacks as opportunities for growth, everything changes. We can literally change the scripts in our lives.

“Your thoughts construct patterns like scaffolding in your mind. You are really etching chemical patterns. In most cases, people get stuck in those patterns just like grooves on a record and they never get out of them.” Steve Jobs

To a large extent, we find what we are looking for in life. All one has to do is look to the news to discover carnage and devastation; it’s chock-full of the worst possible headlines available. If we pay enough attention to these narratives, at some point, they become the lenses through which we see the world.

But if we change our perspective and look for the good in the world, we’ll begin to realize a totally different story. Your opinion of the world is in large part due to your subconscious retelling of the stories you consume. It’s one big movie reel of the information you’ve allowed to enter your mind.

What does this mean for us? There’s a wise saying from King Solomon that has stayed relevant for nearly 3,000 years, and things that last this long have power, and they should be paid close attention to.

King Solomon said, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”Solomon knew that our attitude toward life determines life’s attitude towards us.

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