“I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.”

-Martha Washington (1732 – 1802)

I love that thought – determined to be happy. Sounds like such a contradiction in efforts. Happy seems so carefree and determined is so intentioned. Interesting and brilliant! A complete commitment to take control over one’s attitude. For those of you who didn’t know, being happy isn’t always easy.

Whatever the situation…guess that falls in line with the old adage that an untested virtue is no virtue at all. I suppose it is easy to say you are a happy person if there is always tons of stuff to happy about. Guess it’s not so hard to look on the bright side when that is all there is. Pull it off when things are tough, then you have accomplished something.

Disposition not circumstance – think about that for a while. Understand that this speaks to the idea that what is going on is not nearly as important as your attitude towards what’s going on. This is an important truth. It takes all of the power out of the thing you can’t control (circumstance) and places it squarely in that thing which you can (attitude). We can allow ourselves to be victims or circumstance or warriors of attitude. The choice is there every day for the making.

Today I want to encourage you to place more emphasis on attitude than circumstance. I am not saying denial or rose colored glasses. I am saying attitude and perspective. There is nothing you can do about things you can’t control except exert a positive influence on it using those things that you can. I am not saying easy or necessarily fun. I am saying beneficial and totally worth it.