It has to do with a person’s attitude….
This was a recurring theme today. I had one of those incredibly busy days that had me visiting a family member in the hospital. From there, I allowed two hours to drive to a class I was teaching a mere hour away. Traffic, however, had other plans. Instead of arriving a half hour early, I pulled up four minutes after class began. But that was okay, for I had maintained my calm and texted ahead that I was doing my best to get to class.
When I arrived, unable to have the planned upon meeting with the director ahead of time, instead of being upset, he was beyond understanding, appreciative that I had sent word of my delay. In turn, he kept the students informed, and everyone remained calm instead of stressing out that I was running behind. After all…stuff happens that we can’t always predict or control. Today’s super heavy traffic was a prime example.
After teaching class, I was scheduled to have a meeting half an hour out of my way. But the individual I was to meet with, aware of my horrific schedule and the fact that I was already slated to drive over 250 miles today, offered to come closer to me, only minutes away, to ease my time spent on the road.
Gotta love it when stuff like that happens!
At that dining meeting, we brought up how many of the people we know, ourselves included, live with serious physical ailments, that to many might prove disabling, but with us, most wouldn’t have a clue, looking at us as we walk down the street, that anything was wrong. We discussed the possible reasons behind this and came to the following conclusion.
Of our friends who have serious physical ailments, each remains extremely active rather than sedentary. In addition, and possibly more importantly, we each have adopted a positive attitude—a can-do one, if you will. Instead of being quick to react to things in a negative manner when life throws us curveballs, we set our eye on connecting with those, head-on, instead of allowing them to defeat or detour us. By doing so, I believe we allow our positive attitudes to guide us into better physical, emotional and mental lives.
If, however, we were to take a defeatist attitude and let life get us down, no only would we walk around like we bore the heaviest weight on our shoulders, but we’d miss valuable opportunities to make other’s lives a little easier, such as the director did with me this afternoon, regarding the class I was to teach.
The director could have been a real pain. Shown no regard for the fact that I had tried my best, allowing ample time, to arrive on time. But instead, he opted to allow for the fact that, despite our grandest efforts, sometimes…life…just…happens. By doing so, his measured calm demeanor carried over to not only the students but to me the minute I walked in the door and saw his relaxed body posturing that was welcoming versus confrontational.
People have choices. They can opt to view the world through a positive lens, actively seeking out the good in life. Or they can narrow their eyes, adopt a stand-offish body pose and drive others away as well as stress themselves out by focusing on only the curveballs life tosses them.
Everyone receives curveballs in their lives. The trick is to keep your eye firmly on the ball and visualize yourself connecting with it solidly, rather than it grazing off your bat, or worse yet, missing it all together. With a positive can-do attitude, most things become possible. 
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