Your attitude is your altitude

The great inventor, Thomas A. Edison, was known for both his optimistic outlook and his relentless determination. In December, 1914, the Edison Laboratory in West Orange, N.J., was almost entirely destroyed by fire. Edison lost $2 million worth of equipment and the records of much of his life’s work. The morning after the fire, as the 67-year-old inventor walked among the ashes, he was anything but defeated. Looking around, he remarked, “There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew.”

Can a positive mental attitude be used to propel a person to achieve greatness? As a young boy growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, 12-year-old Cassius Marcellus Clay put on his first set of boxing gloves and dreamed of someday becoming the heavyweight boxing champion of the world. The man eventually known as Muhammad Ali used his positive attitude to realize his dream and become the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion of the world and arguably one of the most popular sports figures in history!

Henry Ford was right when he said, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t–you’re right.” Your belief system, like your computer, doesn’t judge what you input; it simply accepts it as the truth. The key to cultivating and maintaining a positive attitude is to use your power of choice and take control of your thinking. It’s a challenging task to develop a focused mind, but well worth the effort.