This morning, we all woke up with a
choice. I decided, as I do every day, from the minute I woke up—or within the
first five minutes, after I was thinking clearly and processing actual
thoughts—that today was going to be a good day. Possibly even great. Nothing
has been out of the ordinary or unexpectedly magnificent, but it definitely hasn’t
been a bad day. This doesn’t mean a few unfortunate events haven’t happened,
but I had decided from the start that this would and could not be a bad day, no
matter what happened. We all have that choice every single day; it’s honestly all
up to us.
Here’s the secret to having a good day every single day: attitude. As you
have probably heard before, attitude really is everything. Our attitudes
dictate our choices and how we react to the consequences of them. We decide how
our days—and even lives—go with the choices we make and the attitudes we have.
I know this might sound like
nonsense, but I promise if you consciously tell yourself every morning that
your day will be a good day, it will be. Even if “bad” things happen to you,
you’ll have a great attitude and be able to handle them. Attitude can help you
realize it’s still a good day for so many more reasons than it could possibly a
bad day. All too often, I see people who have something, admittedly less than
desirable, happen to them, and choose to let it ruin their whole day. How sad
is that?! Choose to fix it, or laugh, or if you can’t do either of those, let
it go! Don’t let it spoil a whole 24 hours! Smile constantly—not in the creepy
way, but in the positive, happy, friendly way. It will catch on to those around
you and you’ll all enjoy an overall happier environment as a result. I promise,
this really works—I’m telling you from experience.
Recently, I had a long talk with one
of my uncles about life—yeah, one of those three hour, philosophical conversations
in which you cover just about everything the world has to discuss. During this
talk, we reached the conclusion that while attitude is everything, life is also
all about CHOICES. Each and every one of us is where we are today because of
choices we, or, in some cases, others made. It may be difficult to see
directly, but think back. Warning: this may require you to take some
responsibility.
For example: this afternoon, I was five minutes late for work. (I know I
promised I wasn’t going to be late for anything any longer, I’m sorry! I hope
you’re not super disappointed in me!) I had an excuse, kind of, but even with
that, I was in this situation because of choices I made. I made the choice to
go to bed really late last night because I had made the choice to procrastinate
packing for college. Then I made the choice to get up really early this morning
to go for a sunrise jog. After that, I made the choice to take a nap, for which
I made the choice not to set an alarm, turning it from a twenty-minute-nap to a
two-and-a-half-hour nap. Because of all these choices, I was late! I actually,
ultimately, made the choice to be late. I’m not proud of it, but I’m taking
responsibility for being irresponsible. Oh, dear, is this making any sense?
The bottom line is, we’ve got to
stop making excuses and accepting defeat. Each day is a gift, not a burden, and
how great of a gift is up to us. Our happiness is dependent not on what happens
to us, but how we choose to look at life and react to obstacles. If you’re
unhappy with your life right now, make the choice to have a new attitude and
appreciation for life. Figure out what choices you need to make to get where
you want to be, and then make them! You are the only person with any sort of
control over your attitude, the choices you make, and therefore, your
happiness.
Always, Anna
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