A Tale Of Two Attitudes

On the way to my sister's house on Christmas day, I decided to stop at a Turkey Hill (that's a local convenience store chain) and pick up some instant lottery tickets for additional gifts.

As I entered, the woman who was working offered up a cheery, "Merry Christmas".

I've only played the lottery a few times in my life and I don't remember ever buying instant tickets so I had questions. The woman patiently explained my options and after my purchase I told her it was too bad she had to work on Christmas. She explained that the store was down to a total of 3 employees (including the manager) so they were all working a shift.

She could have been grumpy or inpatient; she could have been depressed on annoyed that she got stuck working on Christmas but she wasn't. Instead, she was going out of her way to spread some Christmas spirit to her customers.

I don't know specifically why this woman acted as she did but do you think her day went faster or slower because of her attitude and behavior? She could have made herself miserable because of her circumstances but she didn't.


A few hours later, my brother's family arrived at my sister's. After exchanging gifts, the entire family starting to spread out throughout the house and my two nephews (ages 15 and 18) inevitably began wrestling.

You'd probably assume that the older one would have a clear physical advantage but that's really not the case. Neither one ever had any wrestling instruction and although the 18 year old is an inch or two taller, the 15 year old is definitely more solidly built.

He is also convinced that he can't beat his brother. The 18 year old gave him every advantage and encouraged him but the younger one "knows" he can't win.

I showed him one way to postion himself (I have no idea where I learned that) and he was able to hold off much longer but even that didn't give him any confidence that he could beat his big brother.

I told him that as long as he was convinced he couldn't win, that he never would but I'm sure he didn't get it. I hope you do.

If you think of good nutrition and regular workouts as drudgery or punishment, that's what they'll be. If you think you'll never lose the weight or be able to stick to your exercise plan, you won't.