Attitude

A few years ago, my wife and I went to volunteer at a soup kitchen in Forest Park, Ga. It was there that I met up with an old friend that I didn't think I would ever see again.

It was my bad attitude.

Yup, that nasty persona that just seems to get upset with everything and is satisfied with nothing came back to the forefront.
Here I was coming to serve the Lord and what ended up happening was I let my ego and my pride get in the way.

Bottom line I wasn't humble. I don't think I was disrespectful, but I was very cold to the other volunteers and my thoughts were negative.

I can remember afterwards feeling a bit of disbelief, because I thought I'd grown out of this particular foolishness. But it was back, and in the forefront.

I want to tell you that now I'm a bit more centered and that, my attitude has been put in check. God has a way of humbling you.

But I wonder if there's anyone reading this, that might struggle with a bad attitude. The symptoms are clear. You're always right; you think only of yourself; and are extremely negative.

One's attitude is everything. It can literally determine the course of one's life. When I was younger, especially in my early 20s, I had this cockiness, this sense of entitlement. I thought that since I was a college graduate and had a pretty decent job that I was entitled respect, and I talked down to people.

I remember one time when I was at the bank and the teller asked for my social security number. Do you know what my reply was?

"I went to college of course I know my social."

The sheer arrogance I exhibited wasn't what my parents taught me. No, what it was, was fear. I was afraid that my inadequacies would come to light, so to throw everyone off I erected this persona of cockiness and rudeness. It was a poor reflection of my attitude and what God made me to be.

Needless to say, some tough life lessons in the past few years caused me to soften my stance and I was humbled. So humbled in fact that my former boss that I gave grief too - I tracked him down years later and apologized to him. To this day we keep in contact.

An attitude can make you or break you. For years it hung around my neck like a heavy stone dragging me to the near bottom. It kept me away from what God had for me. But now - now I've never been more free. Good bye nasty attitude. I hope to never see you again.