Attitude Adjustment, Anyone?

Last week I turned on the TV in the middle of the day to find something to watch as I sorted papers and organized my filing system.  I excitedly realized it was 11:00, which is when the BYU devotional comes on.  That day it happened to be a talk entitled, "Selective Attitudes and The Happy Life", by Rex and Janet Lee, given at BYU in 1993.  Overall, the talk was mediocre, but there were some very true principles presented.  It seems that right now everyone I know is dealing with something really difficult in their lives and felt that these selections could be of benefit to everyone I know, myself included.

The speaker was recently diagnosed with some kind of illness that caused walking to be difficult and sitting to be painful, through which he was struggling to maintain a positive attitude.  He talked about how he hears two conflicting inner voices (this part is kind of lengthy, but worth reading).

"The first says, on a daily basis:

'Isn't it a shame.  You'll never run another marathon.  To put it bluntly, you have become to the marathon what Bart Simpson is to the Benson Scholarship. You remember all those roughhouse games you used to play with your children, and how many pleasant memories you and they associate with them?  How much of that can you still do?  And how about that week-long hike you took with your son Tom and the other Boy Scouts into the Uintas, and you'd always planned to do the same thing again with the entire family.  Forget it.  And what about Lake Powell?  It will never be the same again.  Cliff jumping and waterskiing are out of the question.  So are the long hikes that include climbing on steep sandstone hills.  Things are really bad.'

"The other voice, which speaks to me with equal regularity, says:

'Things are really good.  You are alive.  You have a job that you love.  Even better, because your central nervous system is unaffected, you can still perform that job.  There are still games you can play with your grandchildren, including many of the same ones you used to play with your children.  And Lake Powell?  There are lots of things you can do there: you can drive the boat, you can ride on the water weenie, you can laugh and joke and play with your children and grandchildren.  And, come to think of it, it isn't all that bad to be the one who stands on the bow of the boat and yells out instructions as to where to put the anchors.  What you now have is a legitimate excuse to pick the cushy jobs and leave the tough ones to someone else.  Moreover, you can still attend BYU plays, concerts, and musicals.  Just never mind those people who'll be saying, 'Who's that weird guy who continues to stand in the middle of performances?' '

Of course, we all have these two inner, conflicting voices every single day of our lives.  We all choose - many times every day - whether to listen to the positive or negative voice.  Of course, few people can be positive all the time, but the point isn't that we become happy to the point of annoyance to everyone around us, only that we try to remain positive about what is good about our situation.  "The grass isn't always greener on the other side" and we should try to see and be grateful for what's good on our side of the fence.  While I'm on this subject, allow em to add that when a person is looking for problems, he or she will find them.  The same is true when a person is looking for the good in other people or circumstances.  Believe me, I've done it both ways many times.

Here are some more quotes from the talk referenced above:

"Each of us comes to this existence with a certain set of circumstances with which we deal.  Some of you are smarter than the rest of us, some more healthy or witty or coordinated or artistic.  Most of the differences are largely outside of our control.  But we do control what we accomplish with what we have been given and, even more important, the attitude we have about the circumstances with which we came into life.  At stake is nothing less significant than the difference between happiness and self-pity."

"The nature of challenges, as well as their magnitude, will vary from person to person, but there is not a person anywhere for whom selective attitude would not affect the quality of life.  And it is equally true that for every one of us the job is easier if there is someone who can help us."

"Just as we seek out people who have successfully met challenges similar to ours and find comfort in following their example, we need to seek and follow Christ as our example in all things.  When our challenges seem overwhelming, when our choices seem to be taken away, when we don't know where to turn, the one thing we have left to do is to follow Christ's example of selective attitude.  As he told us, 'In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world' (John 16:33). "

"Selective attitudes - particularly when combined with the truths of the restored gospel - affect the quality of life itself."

These selections may or may not seem insightful to you, but I appreciated hearing these reminders again this week and I will try to be a little more positive when facing the challenges that life has for me because I truly believe that a positive attitude makes all the difference.