Take Control: Adjust Your Attitude (Boot Camp for Creators & Dreamers #9.2)

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Recap: Your attitude shapes your thoughts, emotions, outlook, actions, and words. A negative, bleak, sour, fearful or defeatist attitude will get you nowhere in life—even if you possess amazing gifts and talents.

To overcome rejection, closed doors, setbacks, etc.; and see our dreams fulfilled, we creators and dreamers need to maintain a positive, faith-filled attitude — regardless of our past or present circumstances. This requires:

  • Knowing God is on your side, working with you, through you, and on your behalf; fully trusting Him to work out the details, no matter how many twists, turns, and detours your journey takes.
  • Relying on God, His strength, His abilities, His goodness, His connections; rather than on yours.

  • It’s NOT ignoring the facts (failures, false starts, closed doors, rejection) or denying your feelings (hurts, disappointments, disillusionment). Dreamers & creators who keep a positive, faith-filled attitude don’t have their heads buried in the sand. However …
  • It IS choosing to see the positive side of any outcome; the opportunities that come with every problem; the silver-lining in every storm cloud; the pluses, not the minuses. It’s having a mindset that views the “glass” as half-full, not half-empty.
  • It’s focusing on God’s promises, NOT your problems. It’s  “…Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion….” (Philippians 1:6 NIV) It’s remembering that despite your circumstances, “God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.” (Romans 11:29 NLT) It’s knowing that “A person’s gift opens doors for him, bringing him access to important people.” (Proverbs 18:16 ISV)

Your attitude will determine how you view life, and how you respond to various situations and circumstances; your general disposition, and how you interact with others. Your attitude impacts your judgement, your decision-making, your relationships (the most important aspect of life) and even your mental and physical wellbeing. Ultimately, your attitude will determine how your life turns out — including your creative pursuits and any goals, dreams, or visions you’re pursuing.

“Attitude,” to quote the great Winston Churchill, “is a little thing that makes a big difference.”

We don’t have control over most of what happens in life. We can’t make the traffic move on the freeway. We can’t shorten the line at the grocery store checkout. We can’t prevent the stock market from plummeting. We have no control over rudeness, insensitivity, office politics, double standards, or how people respond to our dreams, visions, or creative endeavors. But we DO have control over how these things affect us. In other words, we have total control over our own attitudes.

We can either waste our time fuming, pouting, sulking and, perhaps, even spiral into depression; dragging our feet in hopelessness, believing that we’ll never fulfill our dreams — or we can choose to live in victory, rising above life’s little aggravations (and sometimes big disappointments). We can keep a positive, faith-filled attitude, and never lose that spring in our step — even when circumstances don’t look promising, even when we don’t seem to be getting any closer to realizing the vision God placed in our hearts.

Victory or defeat? Negative, hopeless, and downtrodden, or positive, faith-filled, and enthusiastic? The choice is ours — just as it was when the Biblical hero Joshua urged his people, “Choose this day whom you will serve.” (Joshua 24:15 ESV)

Which course will you choose? Will you take the high road and follow your dreams and creative pursuits, proclaiming “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13 KJ2000)? Or wander aimlessly down the back roads of gloom, doom, and despair? It’s all in your attitude: “People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude.” (John C. Maxwell)

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