You Determine Your Attitude

I received this "forward" via e-mail this morning. It really is profound.

PROFOUND
Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

Michael replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood." Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

"Yes, it is," Michael said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life."

I reflected on what Michael said. Soon thereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter," Michael replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.

Michael continued, "..the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man' I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Michael. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity'." Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude... I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34. After all, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. You have two choices now:You know the choice I made. God Bless, and smile, it could be contagious.

Questions on My Mind

Here are some questions that have been on my mind in recent weeks.

1. The Roman Catholic Church elected a new Pope a few weeks ago. The American media had report after report on who should or shouldn't be elected, analyzing the opinions of both Catholics and Protestants around the world, as well as political leaders. My question is: Why should the Catholic Church care about who WE think should lead THEIR religion? If the office of Pope is God-ordained, shouldn't God be the One to choose a Pope? The fact that American Catholics were hoping for a Pope who was more "tolerant" and who was willing to change the historic positions of the Catholic church on such issues as abortion, woman clergy, birth control, homosexuality, etc. is appalling. The Pope is entrusted with guarding the doctrine of the church as it has been handed down from generation to generation. I don't happen to agree with a lot of their tradition, but I do respect the fact that they unchanging in what they believe to be the truth of God's Word. Christianity isn't for our convenience. We don't get to re-write God's laws so they're more appealing to us, or so we can fell better about our sins.

2. Is it my imagination, or are there more incidences of child abduction and murder than ever before? I read an article that said what was happening in the Tampa Bay area was highly unusual. Most cases of child abduction end with the child being found alive. But that hasn't been the case here in recent months. And almost every day there's a report of another child at a bus stop being approached by a pedophile. Last night a man tried to steal a six-year-old girl from Chick-Fil-A in broad daylight with family members watching. What's this world coming to? Will anyone be able to admit that the last 40 years of increasing promiscuity, rampant pornography and the outright ridicule of religious mores has done more harm than good to society? Why do people think getting rid of God in our culture will produce a safer America or one that people would WANT to live in?

3. Where does the time go? In just a couple weeks my little boy graduates from high school. He's now 18 years old. It seems like it was just yesterday that he was born. I remember when the kids were little having older adults tell me to cherish the time, because it would be gone quickly. I never realized how right they were until now. I guess that's why it's so important to make every single day count. I've always made a point to tell my kids every day that I love them and to hug and kiss them every chance I got. I'm so glad I did. I have no regrets. Just an eager anticipation of what comes next in their lives.

4. What now? In another year Rebecca will be ready to graduate from high school and head to college. Then we will be official "empty-nesters." So, what does God have in store for us in the second half of our lives? We've been pastoring now for 23 years. Will the next 20 years be more of the same, or does God have something else in store? What should we be doing to prepare for what's ahead? How will we know when God wants us to do something different? If we continue to pastor churches (and we're hoping to be in Zephyrhills for a long time), how will that ministry change because of the changing culture? What should we be doing differently? How can we ensure that we keep growing?