In a Tough Situation? Read this Poem and Ask Yourself 3 Questions

I just randomly came across this poem called Attitude, by Charles Swindoll. In a few short sentences, he tells us the secret to achieving happiness. No matter what is happening in our lives and career, we can always rely on our choice in attitude to shift our perspective.

It’s easy to have a good attitude when everything is going our way or the way we expected them to go. This poem is the most helpful when we’re dealing with difficult situations, usually situations we don’t expect or we wish were different. We cannot control what other people do or say or can’t always change how things turn out in our careers or in our lives. One thing we can always rely on, is how we react to what’s happening.

I’m saving this poem so I can read it, remember it, and act on it when the going gets tough. Attitude = You are In Control = Happiness. I hope this poem can be a good reminder for you in tough times.

“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 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.”

by Charles Swindoll

For me, this poem reminds me to ask myself three questions during tough times:

1. What am I grateful for? No matter what’s happening, there are still things in my life that are going well. It ‘s important to stay grateful for what I have and look at life from an attitude of “abundance.”
2. What can I learn from this? Any tough situation is a chance for me to grow and learn about myself. This can be about how to avoid these situations in the future and about building more self-awareness on where I can still grow in my character.
3. If I’m dying this month, this year, what would I do now? No one ever says on their deathbed that they wish they worked more or made more money. It’s important to step back from any bad situation and look at it with a broad life perspective. Sometimes, I stay in bad situations because I feel too “responsible” or just want to be”safe.” By asking myself this question, it helps me break free of that narrow view. We all have more options than we often think. By imagining what this would be like, we gain freedom to make decisions that are bold.

We can all choose a life that’s happy for us. We sometimes just need to have the courage to do so. I truly believe everything happens for a reason, especially bad situations. That is my attitude. What’s yours?