Attitude: When Things Could Suck but You Decide They Don’t

“The difference between an adventure and an ordeal is attitude.” -Bob Bitchin

This quote has been in my LinkedIn profile for the past five years and I love it because it’s a reminder that we’re in charge of how we react in any given situation.

I’m one of those people who typically looks on the bright side of things. I’m a natural optimist. I realize this gets annoying to people who lean more pessimistic but, I don’t care. I don’t see the value in finding the negative in a situation or wasting time being mad about something I can’t change.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m guilty of being a grump some days. I’m guilty of complaining and having a bad attitude. My family can lovingly attest to that. But, I’m increasingly aware of how that negativity sucks the life out of a room. We all know someone who’s always gossiping or complaining and it rubs off on you! It feels gross and it brings you down to their level.

We only have so many days on this earth, so when I catch myself in that headspace, I try to flip the script and look for something to be grateful for.

I think my Midwest upbringing has something to do with it. When you grow up navigating -40 degree windchill winters and scraping ice off your car with frozen fingers, you’re not phased by unpleasant experiences because it’s just not that big of a deal. You can’t change it so you make the best of it.

I live in Southern California now and decided to go to the gym before work the other morning. Some much-needed rain was in the forecast and my gym doesn’t have a roof, but I assumed they had a retractable roof or that we’d go to the few covered areas.

Nope! Bootcamp class started at 7 a.m. sharp, with a run in the pouring rain.

You know what made it amazing? My instructor’s attitude.

Instead of babying us, he was like, “You guys, this is awesome! We’re going to work out in the rain today. How often do you get to do that?”

And,

“You guys are gonna get hit hard but this is H2O coming down from heaven!”

As a fellow cheeseball, that motivates me. It gets me inspired.

About 40 minutes into the class, I was doing box jumps with burpees, getting splashed as I jumped and doing my push ups in a puddle of water. And it felt so good. I felt so happy. Like hello, this is what life is about!

Every day isn’t going to be perfect and sunshine but the attitude we choose to approach the day with is always just that, a choice. Good day or bad day? It’s up to you.

Thoughts? Let me know!

With love,

Alissa