Negative Attitudes

Most people don’t like to be told they have a negative attitude and quite frankly they probably don’t think they do. Negative attitudes are so pervasive they tend to be like a computer operating system – you know they are there and they definitely impact your life but you really don’t pay attention to them on a daily basis.

The unfortunate characteristic of a negative attitude is that it deprives us of life’s greatest joys. For example, someone who just expects that things won’t work out might not bother attempting to try something new. People with a negative attitude see everything that happens through a dark lens. They are rarely disappointed because they never anticipate anything good will come out of any situation.

Negative attitudes can also live silently in the background waiting to spring on us when we are vulnerable. I have a friend who is usually happy about life until something out of the blue throws a curve his way. He immediately defaults to his stock position that “life is hard” without even considering that whatever is happening at that moment shouldn’t negate all the other positive things he is experiencing.

Notice too that in this situation I refer to “defaulting”. That’s because I believe that there is a powerful gravitational pull that takes us back to what we believe. Even if we know better, we often don’t choose differently.

Negative attitudes weigh heavy on us like an oversized backpack full of rocks. These stones represent the events of our lives that have taught us to be wary of the world. Walking around with a negative attitude we just don’t think that things we consider “good’ will ever happen to us. We know other people who are lucky or seem to have it all but we somehow missed the boat. Our life force is literally on hold and negative attitudes can have a debilitating effect on everyone around them.

So what can we do about it? Are people with negative attitudes destined to live out their lives waiting for the other shoe to drop? Some are. Some will. AND, they don’t have to. I believe with absolute certainty that a negative attitude is a chosen. People with negative attitudes have been hurt or disappointed in life and a negative attitude is their best defense. They don’t have to be happy and then have the rug pulled out from under them. When they are mistreated (by people I believe they attract into their lives with their expectations) they chalk this up to more evidence that the world is a “bad” place.

Negative attitudes CAN and ARE being transformed all the time. Caring, compassionate and courageous coaches are challenging people every day to see their world from a different, more empowered perspective.

The next year of your life will unfold one way or the other. Question: What might be different in your world if you embraced a positive attitude?