Sunday, November 9, 2008

Keep on Keepin' On

I am a "mantra" girl. I have things in my head that are on a constant rotation to keep me focused and get me through life's not-so-fabulous moments. One that I shared with friends this weekend is "it washes off" I say this over and over in my brain when someone pukes,poops, when I have to dump a lost sippy cup filled with sour milk. Another one I us a ton is"first things first" this one is for keeping organized when I am overwhelmed, which is more often than I expect.

But what I really wanted to share is this quote.
"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude,to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past,than education,than money,than circumstances,than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. Its more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude...I am convinced that LIFE is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our attitudes."
-Charles Swindoll

I have no idea who Charles Swindoll is. But I can tell you how much of my life has become better because of the basic message of this. Things are only as bad a you DECIDE them to be. It is an embellishment on the glass is half empty/full. This kind of thinking has given me more power over my life. I decide how bad something is and how long I am going to choose to suffer over it.

Whew...its been quite a weekend. I'll post Chicago Pics tomorrow:)

4 comments:

Life is Love said...

Jen, You have no idea how much I needed to read that. After a rough weekend, things are exactly what we make of them. And I need to react better to some things because otherwise, it is a domino effect. You always live life looking forward to the next day and it is inspiring. I hope you had an awesome time in Chicago.

hien k. d. said...

what a great post, Jen! just what i needed to start off my day and my week. :) thank you very much. hope you girls had fun in Chicago!!

Shelly said...

love the quote, I may copy and put it somewhere to read daily.

Anonymous said...

If you only knew how much I live by this on a daily basis! My attitude and how I chose it was seriously what got me through some VERY difficult, trying times the past 1½ years. People were amazed at my reaction to my situation...but I was the one in charge of ME and how I reacted to things.
Thanks for a great post - and a much needed reminder!!
~Lea