I absolutely love this quote. It’s taken from Pastor Charles R. Swindoll. The actual statement made was: “The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company…a church….a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude…I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you…we are in charge of our attitudes.”

This is something I have really been trying to accept and learn in my almost 50 years of living. When we are handed a stressful incident or someone does something that really makes us anxious or upset, it’s always our first instinct to be reactive. Our hearts beat fast. We get overwhelmed and want to lash out at whomever is in front of us or whom we are closest to. We may stress eat or drink. Now, I try to step back and look at the situation in front of me. Is this something I can control? The action of this person or situation? Majority of the time it’s the other person’s issue. Or it’s a stressor that we do not need to take on. I like to think of a baby. When you play peek-a-boo with him/her. They are so happy and giggling. Their reaction is everything. When presented with a challenging situation, try to handle it with a good attitude. Try. Life is about learning and trying. Life is about loving. Life is about being patient and kind to others AND yourself. We’re just doing our best in this life we have. Try. Trying.