|
|
Attitude is everything By Elizabeth B. Loyd Isn’t it interesting how things can look so different depending on the circumstances? At a conference on holistic health recently, a woman said, “I don’t celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I celebrate Breast HEALTH Awareness Month.” Her reasoning behind this was that we receive from life that on which we focus our energy and invest our time. This is not a new concept, but it has a new audience. People who never believed in the mind/body/spirit connection now spend their time in yoga, breathwork and meditation classes learning how to celebrate their bodies and manifest their dreams. They talk about observing the coincidences in their lives and paying attention to the gifts of the universe. They receive Reiki treatments for emotional healing and study the historical works of the great teachers to find spiritual healing for today. The conference speaker and all these people know what children and adolescents have known all along: It is all about attitude. Author Phyllis Carrera wrote, “I don’t want to appear arrogant naming myself the ‘featured artist’ of a newsletter I created to honor great masters in literature and the visual and performing arts. Who am I to place myself amongst the likes of Picasso, O’Keefe, Whitman and Beethoven? … Yet, think about it. What if the great masters had considered themselves less than the giants who came before them? What if the world never received their purposeful contributions? And what if the world never receives yours or mine?” Sit in on a few Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and you will begin to believe in miracles. You will hear how they came to believe in a power greater than themselves. You will hear about the “attitude of gratitude” that is a large part of recovery. And you’ll hear about how each person’s recovery is about moving forward toward something they just knew, without knowing how or why. Spend some time talking with students of the arts and you will hear about family and friends who encouraged them to become teachers or accountants instead of artists in order to better support themselves. And then you will hear the story of how they just knew they had to create. It will be a story of belief, attitude, courage and honoring themselves. It is the story of each of us as we move down our own uncharted path. The story is about expectations about life as much as it is about the reality of life. It is about the need to see beyond the present self and know that there is something even better ahead. It is about acting with the conviction that comes from believing in the power of the mind and speaking the truth that comes from a knowing deep within. It is about honoring the spirit within while taking the journey of a lifetime. If you would like to join others on the path to a new attitude about life, please call the health and wellness department at 525-6971. Loyd is a counselor in the health and wellness department. |
 |
||
