HOW TO GIVE YOURSELF AN ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT
1. Write what’s right and read it regularly! I recommend 3x a day for 3 weeks. It takes 21 days to change a habit. It will become the programming you hear in your head, the truth that sets you free.
If you have a tendency to see the cup half empty, try this for 3 weeks and see if it doesn’t have you singing a tune rather than circling the drain!
2. Try these 3 R’s: Recognize the Right in every day and Record it! Add that to your What’s Right list. May not have gotten the promotion you desired, but you have a job! And that provides a regular paycheck in this inflated economy. Your son may be in trouble for throwing a rock on the playground, but he’s not pushing drugs in a crack house. Your teenage daughter may continue to steal your hairbrush and your mascara, but she’s home and not a runaway on the streets.
Here is a story that I would have all but forgotten if I had not recorded it some 30 years ago now. It still brings a lift to this mother’s heart: It was my oldest daughter, Sarah’s first day in dance class. She was only 4. She didn’t know anyone in the class. We were new to the area, and these kids had been dancing together for months. One of the little girls fell and everyone, even the teacher just stood there staring at her. Sarah filed out of line, walked over, and helped the little girl to her feet. I journaled that blessing and it continues to make me smile every time I think of my compassionate little girl who now is a grown-up people helper as I write this.
3. Receive your compliments
Years ago, I had a terrible time receiving good things people said about me. Then I heard my ol’ pastor say, “Compliments are bouquets thrown from the hand of God. When we don’t take the compliments given to us, it’s as though we are ripping the heads off the flowers God has given us, throwing them to the ground, and stomping them. Compliments are God’s way of telling us who we are. When we receive them, it builds our confidence in the qualities and gifts He’s given us. But when we don’t, we remain static and self-critical.”
He continued, “If you think about it, even if the person’s motives aren’t that honorable, the compliment is. They can’t say you’re pretty if you’re ugly as a mud fence. They can’t say you’re smart if you’re dumber than a box of rocks.”
I took my ol’ pastor’s words to heart and stopped dismissing compliments some fifty years ago. In that time, God has had the opportunity to remake my self-esteem. Before that I was so full of self-doubt, I had to climb a ladder to look an ant in the eye, seriously!
When you receive a compliment, look the giver of the compliment in the eye and respond with a legitimate and heartfelt “thank you.” As you say the words, see yourself receiving a breath-taking bouquet from the Lord. Shove your face in the flowers and drink in their fragrance. Examine the exquisite beauty of each blossom. Now take the words that were offered in the compliment and see them permeating your being. Let them soak into your soul. Believe them. Recognize that they are God’s words to you reinforcing the good He created in you.
Here's to loving the YOU God created!