Attitude is Everything

The way we look at life greatly influences the quality of our life. I think as a writer, I'm always looking at the life around me and analyzing it. Probably over-analyzing. I just find it all so stinkin' interesting.

So... my mom's health is not getting better. She's fought a valiant battle against stage four lymphoma for fourteen years. It's a miracle (and a lot of hard work on her part) that she's had these last fourteen years. She eats raw garlic, eats organically (is that a word?), and does yoga. But, her health is taking a turn now. The doctor has decided she needs another bone marrow biopsy.

I think her doctor told her something that she isn't telling me. Why do I think this? Because of my mom's tone of voice... and because my mom wants me to come over to her house and review the paperwork for her financials, funeral, and what-not.

What does this have to do with attitude and analyzing life?

Let me tell you:

I worked at Quilt Crossing today selling Berninas and two things struck me as ?coincidence?...

1. A sweet sweet little old lady (maybe 75-85 years old) came in to have her $8500 machine serviced. She told me how she viewed the machine as a gift from her mother who'd passed in 2004. This lady told me how she'd struggled financially her whole life and "made-do" with an inexpensive basic machine, but when her mother passed and left her quite a bit of money, she decided to treat herself to this machine. So, everytime she uses it, she feels closer to her mother. She started to cry just retelling the situation. She made me cry. We hugged. She's a lovely woman with a great attitude.

2. A bitter adult daughter (maybe 50 years old) brought in her 80 year old mother who needed a new sewing machine because she dropped hers and it busted. I asked the mother what type of sewing she liked to do, and the daughter seemed offended that I would ask her mother and not her. The daughter tried to answer for her mother. Based on the mother's answers, I showed her an entry level machine that does automatic buttonholes. The daughter had a fit when she saw the $2000 price tag and said there's no way they were spending that much money. So, I showed them the $149 machine. The daughter was short and belitting toward her mother. The mother physically shrunk. I felt so badly for her.

A lot goes into our lives. Many different variables, trials, and blessings, but how do we react? Or better yet, ACT.

My fifteen-year-old son said the other day, "I want to be a man of ACTION, not REaction."

Attitude is everything.