ARE YOU A SAILBOAT OR RUSTY OLD JON-BOAT?

Have you ever noticed that in every household or office you have at least one “grump”?  That one person who can turn beautiful sailboats into rusty old jon-boats?  Are you that person?

What happens so often, is that we wake up happy….or for some….not unhappy, and then that ONE thing happens – the stumped toe, the razor cut or THAT phone call.

Maybe you woke up pretty happy but then you get to the office and that person….you know, the one that likes to ruin your day… comes up and says something that just really takes the wind out of your sail.  In that instance, you decide your attitude for the rest of the day.  You can’t move past it.  You decide TODAY will be a BAD day.  You actually say “this day is going to suck”.   REALLY????? Just that one little thing is going to choose your attitude for the rest of your day?

What makes someone become that person?  Is it all the bad things combined that have happened in life to set their belief systems? I believe that some people just like unhappiness.  They don’t feel they deserve more than that.  They wait for that one thing to happen to have an excuse  for who they really want to be that day.  They believe  that is who they truly are.

They are the ones who will hold grudges and can remind you 10 years from now that you said their hair looked bad or their nose has an extra bump in it.  They let those words eat at them and believe me, they will get that nose fixed at some point then blame the pain on the one who said THOSE WORDS.

Two years ago when I had my last surgery, I remember looking down at my scars and suddenly realizing the surgery I was about to have would complete a sailboat design on my belly.  I told my doctor to do his best to keep the incision in the right place so the sailboat would be complete.  I think in some sorted way in my mind, I knew it would be smooth sailing from then on if the sailboat were complete.

Maybe I think differently because of all the surgeries I’ve endured over the years that left so many visible reminders.  Life is more than that.  Those are the things that mold you in to the person you are.  They can mold you in to a beautiful sailboat or a hard, rusty little jon-boat that you have to put so much energy behind to row through the water of life – it is your choice.  IT IS ALWAYS YOUR CHOICE.  No one can make you feel mad, sad, glad or any way you don’t CHOOSE to feel.

It really is all in how you look at life.  You can just have a bunch of ugly scars or instances that define your life and who you get to be today…. or you can have beautiful sailboats that make it smooth sailing.  You can choose your attitude today – no matter what has happened – it is your choice how you let it shape you and how you let it shape this day.

Your attitude is a choice.  Choose to make sailboats.

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