The Power of Positive Thinking ~ Norman Vincent Peal
Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton has said, “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” It’s true. Nothing will hinder or handicap you in life as severely as a bad attitude. When I use the word attitude, I am referring to the system of thoughts, the mental posture, the mindset, or the way of thinking with which a person approaches life. For example, if a person has a bad attitude toward work, he will think thoughts such as these:
• I have the most boring job on Earth.
• My boss is too demanding.
• This company needs to pay me more and treat me better.
• I should get more vacation time.
• I always have to do the “grunt work.”
• No one here appreciates me.
• I may have to work with these people around me, but I don’t have to be nice to them.
All those thoughts combine to make one big bad attitude. How could a person with those thoughts running through his mind all day ever enjoy his work, become a positive employee, or make valuable contributions to his company? He can’t-unless he changes his thoughts and develops a better attitude. Even if your employer definitely needs to make changes and improve in several areas you must realize that being negative about your job does not change your employer, but it does change your attitude into one that is “power-draining.”
Do you think the person just described would be a good candidate for a raise or a promotion?
Certainly not. But, what about a man whose attitude is built on thoughts like these?
• I am so thankful to have a job.
• I am going to do my very best every day.
• I believe that God gives me favor every day with my boss.
• I am glad to be part of a team with my coworkers even though none of us are perfect.
• The work environment may not be ideal, but I will do my part to make it pleasant for myself and those around me.
• I am committed to being focused and diligent while I’m on company time.
• I would like a raise, so I will work hard to earn it.
No doubt, this person’s positive attitude will position him for promotion in his company, and if he has the same type of attitude in other areas, he will enjoy a happy and fulfilling life. Even if his employer never recognizes his attributes, God does and will either change the employer’s heart or provide better employment. God always rewards openly what we do in secret for His honor and glory.
It’s Up to You
All of us have the privilege and responsibility of choosing our attitudes, no matter what circumstances or situations we find ourselves in. The key word here is choosing. Attitudes don’t just happen; they are the products of our choices. Over time, the thought patterns established in our minds can put us on “autopilot,” which means that when certain types of situations occur, we are preprogrammed to think about them in certain ways. We have to interrupt this autopilot function and learn to stop our minds from going in the directions they have gone for years if that direction is not producing good things in our lives.
For example:
• You may have spent years dreading being with your family for holiday celebrations, but this year, you can choose to think, Being with family may not be my favorite activity, but I am going to purposefully look for something good in each of my relatives.
• You may have a habit of complaining of feeling overwhelmed when bills arrive in your mailbox every month, but you can begin to think, I am going to pay as much as possible on this bill, and little by little I am getting out of debt.
It is vital for you to understand that you can choose your own thinking. You may be in a habit of merely thinking whatever falls into your mind, but you are now in the process of retraining your mind one thought at a time. As you learn to think as God thinks it enables Him to partner with you in accomplishing whatever you need to accomplish.
Think about It
What do you believe is the most important thought or attitude you need to change in your life?
An Attitude Adjustment
Winston Churchill noted that “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” I couldn’t agree more. All of us need “attitude adjustments” at times, and an attitude adjustment is a result of changing the way we think.
If we keep our attitudes up and positive, we will continue to climb higher and higher in life and be able to soar. But if our attitudes are down and negative, we will fall and stay on the ground of life, never able to make the journeys God intends for us or reach the destinations He has planned for us. You may have heard the saying: “Your attitude determines your altitude.” In other words, a positive attitude will cause you to “fly high” in life, while a negative attitude will keep you down. Just as pilots have certain rules to follow to keep planes oriented, with the right attitudes and altitudes, I want to share a few rules you can follow in life to help keep your attitude positive so you can keep your “altitude” where it should be.
Rule #1: Maintain the right attitude when the going gets rough.
No matter what happens to you, determine to go through it with the right attitude. In fact, determine beforehand that you will keep a positive attitude in the midst of every negative situation that presents itself to you. If you make this decision and meditate on it during a good time in your life, then when difficulty arises you will already be prepared to maintain a good attitude. For example, if an unexpected bill or major repair presents itself to you, make up your mind that you will not complain because you have to tighten your belt financially for a few months to make up for it. Instead, look at the challenge as an adventure and decide you will find creative ways to cut costs for a while and look for ways to enjoy life without spending money. I have witnessed over and over how God helps people who keep a good attitude in challenging times. I recently heard of a couple who were struggling financially but were also determined to keep a good, positive, and thankful attitude. The man, who we will call John, worked in a restaurant and one day a customer had a heart attack while eating lunch there. John had some medical training from being in the armed forces and was able to administer CPR to keep the man breathing and his heart beating until the paramedics arrived. As it turned out, the man whose life was saved happened to be very wealthy and in appreciation he gave John a check for five thousand dollars as a way of saying, “Thank you for saving my life.” The good attitude the couple maintained in their financial struggle opened the door for God to work miraculously in their lives. Throughout history, we have examples of people who have maintained good attitudes in the face of difficult times and thereby turned their problems into opportunities. Specifically, I think of various individuals who were imprisoned and composed some of the most influential writing the world has ever known, such as: “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr., Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, and Sir Walter Raleigh’s The History of the World. While the famous composer Ludwig van Beethoven was not literally imprisoned, he was almost totally deaf and suffered great sorrow during a period of his life and that was when he wrote his greatest symphonies. No doubt, these people could have had terrible attitudes as they faced trouble, but they made a decision and maintained the best of attitudes through the worst of times and made contributions that are still read and heard in the world today.
I don’t think they were simply born as positive people-I believe they had to make a choice and decided to make one that would benefit themselves as well as the world. One of the worst mistakes we can make in our thinking is to believe we are just not like those positive people and we can’t help it. If you think you can’t do anything about your thinking and attitude then you’re defeated before you even begin to try.
No matter what difficulty you encounter, maintaining the right attitude will be much easier than regaining the right attitude, so as soon as you sense your attitude losing altitude, make an adjustment. Remember to resist the devil at his onset (see 1 Peter 5:8, 9). In other words, as soon as the enemy sends negative thoughts into your mind, stop them. Determine that you will not agree with them and decide that you will not listen to his voice anymore. Discipline yourself to stand strong with your positive attitude in every circumstance. Misery will always be an option; you can always choose to be unhappy and pessimistic, but you can also choose to be optimistic and happy.
Hyperseeing
Sculptors have a term for the artist’s ability to look at a rough piece of stone and see it in its final, perfected form. It is called “hyper seeing.”
Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941) is the sculptor who created many well-known public works of art. Probably the most famous is Mt. Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota. Borglum’s housekeeper captured the concept of hyper seeing when she gazed up at the massive faces of the four US presidents on Mt. Rushmore for the first time. “Mr. Borglum,” she gasped, “how did you know Mr. Lincoln was on that rock?”
Hyperseeing is also a good description of our all-seeing God. He sees all that we are and more. He sees what we shall be when He has completed His work and we stand before Him, holy and without blemish: the exact likeness, the very image of Jesus. The God who started this great work in you will keep at it until He completes it on the very day Jesus Christ appears (see Phil. 1:6).
God will not be denied! He has such a longing for our perfection that nothing can or will remain an obstacle until He has finished the work He began so long ago.
If only . . . if only we will put ourselves in the Master Sculptor’s hands.
Doubt whispers, “Thou art such a blot;
He cannot love poor thee.”
If what I am He loves not,
He loves what I shall be.
-MacDonald
God works in us to grow us into what He wants us to be.
Insight
Today’s Scripture reading has sometimes been misused by well-intentioned Christians. When a believer has been devastated by the loss of a loved one, another believer may glibly quote: “All things work together for good” (v.28). But for someone feeling the hurt and loss of grief, this statement usually provides little consolation. A more careful examination of the biblical text offers an important insight. The broader context shows that the blessings and bruises believers experience must be understood as part of the process of being conformed to the image of Christ. We may not understand why a person was taken from us in this life, but by faith, we can have the assurance that all life experiences work together to make us more like Jesus Christ.
