9 Reasons to Change Your Attitude

Did you know that attitudes are important to God?

Attitudes are usually formed through our interactions with others and our reactions to our circumstances. An attitude is a pattern of thinking formed over a long period of time. God holds each one of us responsible for our attitudes, not what others did to us. You always have a choice in how you react to what happens in your life. If your family or friends or negative, you do not have to react to their negativity. If someone does something upsetting, you can chose to remain calm and in control. A bad attitude about life and others can lead to complaining, murmuring, fault-finding, thanklessness, criticism, joylessness, lack of peace, and discontentment.

To change your attitude, you have to change your beliefs. The main cause of a bad attitude is wrong beliefs about life.

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the lest of human freedoms to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” ~ Victor Frankl, Holocaust survivor

Why do I need to change my attitude?

1. People with a positive attitude tend to enjoy life more and are generally happier.
2. Negative attitudes affect others. No one wants to be around a negative person. Negative attitudes can ruin relationships.
3. Negative attitudes produce negative circumstances. If we think negatively about a situation or person, eventually we will give power to those thoughts.
4. Maintaining a negative attitude will drain you of physical energy. Becoming angry, upset, or frustrated can release negative emotions that can cause tiredness and a weak immune system. Chronic stress from negative attitudes disrupts the body’s hormone balance and depletes the brain chemicals responsible for feel-good emotions.
5. A positive attitude helps you to be an overcomer when the adversities of life come.
6. Having a poor attitude will cause you to look at life from the perspective of “the glass half empty.” This can cause you to point out the negatives in situations instead of trying to find the positives.
7. A person with a negative attitude blames others for their difficulties, and they wallow in self-pity. A victim mentality will develop in people if they do not take responsibility for their own lives.
8. A positive attitude is infectious, but a negative attitude can be contagious. Be careful who you are spending your time with. Too much time with a pessimistic person can affect your outlook on life. Being around encouraging and uplifting people with good attitudes brings a boost to your outlook in life.
9. A positive attitude will reduce negative emotions, and help you recover from negative experiences like trauma and loss more quickly.

Changing your attitude takes time!

Don’t give up the first day or weeks if you are trying to change your attitude. A new habit can take anywhere from 30-60 days to form, and sometimes even longer.

To get you started on having a better attitude:

1. Focus on your strengths more than your weaknesses.
2. Daily list or say verbally at least five things that you are thankful for–cultivate a heart of gratitude.
3. Find the positives in negative or difficult circumstances–reframe your thoughts such as: “winter is not my favorite season, but I can look forward to cozy nights at home with the fireplace going.”
4. Create a morning ritual that is infuses a positive outlook such as reciting your favorite scripture or exercising to release feel-good endorphins.
5. Monitor what you watch on TV, computer, or what you read–garbage in garbage out.
6. Stop negative thoughts immediately. Negative thoughts will come, and in the beginning of change you may even have an increase in negative thoughts. Replace those negative thoughts immediately with the truth from God’s Word.
7. To maintain a positive attitude, take time to recharge your batteries and do things that you enjoy.

You can CHOOSE your attitude! When something happens in your life that is unpleasant, you can choose whether it’s a positive or negative experience.

It is not what happens to us in life, but how we react to what happens to us that will determine our attitude.

Keeping a good attitude starts first with our thoughts:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8

 What areas from your life can you identify with having a good attitude or a negative attitude?