Change Your Attitude Even When You Can’t Change The Situation

Change Your Attitude Even When You Can’t Change The Situation

Ever feel like you aren’t who you want to be, right now? You want to be thinner, better educated, wealthier…or even still- happier. What do you do when what you want, right now, isn’t possible? What do you do with now, but not yet?

The answer is in your gaze; perception is everything. If you will just shift your gaze away from what you can’t have, to what you do have, your attitude changes and THAT is the key. An attitude change. How do you go about changing your attitude? Maybe these suggestions will help:

1. Admit you aren’t happy and understand that it’s ok.

You can’t begin to change something if you can’t admit that something is wrong. And, if you are too busy beating yourself up because you aren’t happy, you’ll never be able to find peace. Take a deep breath, say you aren’t happy(out loud if necessary), and give yourself some grace.

2. Get to the bottom of why you aren’t happy. 

This might not be an easy step but until you know why you aren’t happy, you’ll continue to wander through life, miserable. Perhaps you’ll need to write out how you feel, journaling can be a good way to outline what you are feeling. Or schedule a meeting with a counselor to talk through what’s been going on; telling your secrets to a stranger might seem impossible, but exposing the dark to light can be satisfying to a weary soul.

3. Focus on what you do have.

What do you have? First of all- you are alive. That’s something to be thankful for, even in the worst moments. Next, is there anything of worth or value in your life? If not, perhaps you need to change your gaze, shift your focus. If that doesn’t help, look up. Now, you can take that last statement how ever you’d like. If you believe in God, pray and ask for help. If you can’t believe or don’t want to, find the thought foolish, etc…, still- look up. Take a deep breath and look at the sky. Feel the breeze. Watch the trees sway. Those things are all beautiful. Focus on them if you can’t find anything else to be thankful for.

4. Spend your time with happy, positive people.

Have you ever heard the saying, “Misery loves company”? Well, it’s true. Hurt people, hurt people. Unhappy people love to drag others down with them. Make a decision to spend your time with people who are happy, thankful for what they have, and those who know life isn’t all about them. If you understand that you and your happiness don’t make the world go around, you can take that lofty goal off your plate. Life ebbs and flows- find people who know that and are along for the exciting ride. Besides, negative people are SUCH a bummer.

5. Speak life to yourself. 

Truth can be life giving. Find a piece of scripture, or a quote that’s meaningful to you and speak it aloud to yourself every morning. And every other time you need to. While it might seem a little kooky, speaking positive truth can lighten your spirit and help you stay focused on being positive.

Just remember these little suggestions the next time you are given to despair. You may not be able to change your situation right now, but you can change your gaze and therefore your attitude. Remember, it’s all about perception and attitude. You’ve got this!