Attitude is EVERYTHING

Today I was talking to a former colleague and she told me a story that really encapsulated the very essence of the old adage that is the headline of this blog. The words were prominently displayed in 5 foot tall letters over the entrance to a school my daughter went to. "ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING".

The Neuro-biologists now have actual proof (so they say anyway) that the brain "filters" most of what the senses deliver to it and actively collects "evidence" in support of the biases we hold. What this means is that if we think the world is an awful place where gloom and doom preside over everything else then we will subconsciously collect information from our daily lives that more supports this idea than the evidence that refutes it REGARDLESS of the ACTUAL preponderance of the evidence one way or another. This will lead to a spiral effect that can only lead to one conclusion. (Maybe that's why they call science a DISCIPLINE - because you have to discipline yourself NOT to do that and to allow yourself to be led by the evidence only)

My former colleague told me a story today of her aunt (who has this OVERWHELMING attitude that the world is essentially a good, benign and "lucky" place for her) who visited New York City. During her visit she was parked somewhere and someone smashed her windshield and stole something from her car. She reported it to the police and in the course of the report the police discovered that she was not insured. She called the insurance company to find that although she had paid her renewal fee THEY had failed to cash her cheque and so technically she was not insured. Of course, when they found out the circumstances of her call they refused to insure her ANYWAY.

Her attitude? "How luck am I!!! This could have been an accident where some serious damage was done and then I would be liable for so much more." Her "lucky streak" was further confirmed in her mind when she returned home to Canada and shopped around and found similar insurance that was EVEN CHEAPER than she would have paid before.

Life is what we make it. We have to play the cards we are dealt so why not START with the attitude that they are the luckiest ones and try to find the evidence that supports that?