THE MANY ATTITUDES OF LIFE

[janbear]

By Zig Ziglar

THE MANY ATTITUDES OF LIFE

Let's look at five life attitudes. First is self-esteem. That's the way you feel about yourself. That feeling of your own worth influences every facet of your life. The quickest, most sensible way to feel good about yourself without going on an "ego trip" is to do something you are proud of.

The second attitude is love, which is your attitude toward others. Love -- real love -- always thinks in terms of what is best for the other person, whether it's the husband thinking of his wife, the young boy thinking about his girlfriend, the parent thinking about a child. "Is this in their best interests?"

The third attitude is faith. Faith is your attitude toward God. What is that attitude? I heard about an atheist one time who loudly exclaimed, "I'm an atheist, thank God!" And then, of course, there is the atheist's "Dial-a-prayer." When you dial, you don't get an answer. What is your attitude toward God? It will influence your attitudes toward your fellow man and members of your family.

The fourth attitude is hope, which is your attitude toward your future. It's been truly said that when the going gets tough, the hopeful keep going. Alfred Adler, the psychiatrist, said: "Hope is the foundational quality of all change, and it is the great activator. It gets people moving towards an objective. Hope is the realistic expectation that something good is going to happen."

The fifth attitude is forgiveness, which deals with your past. Your ability to forgive others for any wrongdoing will have a tremendous bearing on your future. The person who damaged your past is negatively impacting your present and will negatively influence your future unless you forgive him or her. For some, that might be hard to do and might take counseling, but my personal experience with countless numbers of people tells me it's the wisest thing you can do. Do it, and I'll see you at the top!

FORGIVENESS IS DANGEROUS

Forgiveness is dangerous. Many of you will look at that and wonder what's coming, since you've always been told that forgiveness is a must if your future is going to reach its full potential. And you're right -- but the reason forgiveness is dangerous is that when others have badly used or abused you and you forgive them for doing it, you no longer have a convenient excuse for not succeeding in life.

You've accepted responsibility, and you're now on your own. The good news is this: The load you will be carrying in your climb to the top will be easier and lighter. You simply cannot be your best self and do your best when you're carrying a load of anger and bitterness.

Forgiveness is one of the most important steps you will ever take. Martha Thorilius put it this way: "How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it?" Bill O'Hearn says that "we need to understand that in life we've been given so many BTUs of energy and that every time you love somebody and are nice to somebody, you're given an extra portion of that energy." Now when all the energy is gone, that's the end of life.

An unknown writer said, "Imagine that every time you seek revenge and let anger control your life a double portion of that energy is burned. In short, what you're doing is shortening your own life." Doctors agree with that. Yes, you need to forgive. Not only should we forgive, but we need to develop a cheerful nature to go along with it.

H. G. Wells tells us why: "While there is a chance of the world getting through its troubles, I hold that a reasonable man has to behave as though he were sure of it. If at the end your cheerfulness is not justified, at any rate you will have been cheerful."

Take the forgiveness with cheerfulness point of view, and I'll see you at the top