Recovery Meditations: January24th

~ POSITIVE ATTITUDE ~

Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money,
than circumstances, than what people do or say.
It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.

Charles Swindoll


I can't remember ever having a consistently good attitude. When I was younger, I usually wore a mask of a good attitude, so many people were attracted to the mask but not to the real me, and I knew it. It didn't help my attitude grow more positive.

Coming into the Twelve Step program, my attitude was all negative. My theory was that if I expected the worst from everyone and everything, if by chance I got something better, I could be pleasantly surprised. This makes me laugh now. With that attitude, would ANYTHING ever be considered good enough to "pleasantly surprise" me? No, and it didn't. I ignored the many good things that happened--or I created a dark side to them.

In a meeting, I once heard that positives attract positives, and negatives attract negatives. This has stuck with me for years. It might be a scientific thing, but for me it refers to attitude. When I make the choice to be in a bad mood, I struggle through the day. Nothing seems to go right, and if it does, I don't notice it or appreciate it. When I make the simple choice to be in a good mood despite whatever problems I'm facing, good things happen to me. People smile back, elevating my mood. I can find humor in things around me. The sun is shining even on a rainy day. It's all up to me.

One Day at a Time . . .
I will make the choice to be happy for just today. I will look for the good in myself, in others and in the situations around me. I will keep my attitude positive.
~ Rhonda ~

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I'm sure I've used the 'expect the worst' attitude over the years! I was raised that way.........to be distrustful and suspicious of everyone & everything. Being trained to believe I was cursed, and living under a dark cloud of misery all the time, I developed into an adult with a bad attitude.

People can change when they are willing to have attitude adjustments! Nobody is 'cursed' or living under a dark cloud..........we are all given a beautiful life to enjoy & to appreciate, IF we allow ourselves to!

When I make the choice to be in a bad mood, I am purposely blocking joy OUT of my life, and inviting negativity IN. It is my choice to feel good and to have a positive attitude, or to feel bad and dwell in a negative attitude.

For today, I choose to be in a good mood & to focus on all the positivity that surrounds me! I will have a good day today, because I want to.