We all have times where our current situation isn’t pleasant and no longer seems to be working. This could be a job where there’s no life balance, a marriage dynamic, or your current financial situation. If you recognize situations in your life that don’t seem to be working anymore, remember you have a choice and can always choose something different. Find a new job, go to marriage counseling, or find a financial planning coach. Whatever the situation, you can choose differently.
Changing situations can be difficult and take time. You also have another choice, to change your attitude. When life circumstances seem insurmountable you still can choose an outlook that serves you and your current experience. Many times we forget and get stuck in the heaviness of what is occurring. Life becomes difficult and we feel like Norm Peterson from Cheers when Woody asks him how’s it going. Norm replies, “It’s a dog eat dog world, Woody, and I’m wearing Milk Bone underwear”. It’s funny, but doesn’t help the situation.
You Always Have a Choice
Whether we know it or not, you’re always choosing. If you believe your current situation is the only option and you can’t see any other way, then it will have to play out. By staying in your current situation you are unconsciously agreeing to it. It always comes down to two choices, change your attitude or change your situation. There’s really nothing in between.
In the movie The Proposal, Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) is a demanding Editor-in Chief at a prosperous New York publishing firm. Margaret is feared by her staff, she’s mean and at times down right scary. Margaret only has one dimension in life and it’s her job. She doesn’t have anything outside of work and expects others should do the same.
Margaret is so focused on her job, that she neglects to renew her work visa. Margaret’s supervisors inform her that she’s being deported back to Canada and it looks like she’ll no longer have a job. Margaret comes up with an idea that could keep her in the U.S. She pretends to be engaged to her assistant Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds) to overcome the immigration predicament. While this is a clever solution, the only way it will work is if attitudes change.
Andrew tries to resist Margaret’s demand that he marry her, but she threatens his career and forces him to acquiesce. He’s so afraid of Margaret that he’s willing to risk going to jail to preserve his upward motion at the firm. Andrew is not unlike most of us these days in various degrees. We keep working so hard because we’re certain if we don’t, we’ll lose our dream of improving our lives through a better job, more salary, etc.
Both Margaret and Andrew have made work their life. They like what they do, but may not be able to continue working together because of the current circumstances they face. In order to prove they are really a couple, Margaret returns with Andrew to his home in Alaska. Grandma Annie (Betty White) is turning 90 and the family is having a major party.
As Margaret and Andrew act like a couple they begin to change their attitudes. Margaret starts to see Andrew as a person and not a thing. She gets to know Andrew and discovers new attributes and characteristics about him. Her attitude changes, she becomes softer, and starts to enjoy his company.
Andrew has to stop seeing Margaret as such a horrible person. We get a sense of how he feels about her when Grandma Annie meets Margaret and asks, “Do you prefer Margaret or Satan’s Mistress”?
Margaret and Andrew lighten their attitudes about each other. A spark between them is ignited and the two begin to fall in love. Now this marriage strategy doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. Because both were able to change their attitudes, it helped solve the problem of their work circumstances.
When you revise your outlook and change your attitude, typically your situation improves too. An optimistic attitude can be like blessings and prayers toward your current circumstances. See your attitude choices as sending blessings to your current situation. A good attitude can be a powerful prayer that has a tangible effect.
We’ve all been in situations where there was nothing we could do. We get stuck in a traffic jam, our flight is delayed, or the weather changed our plans. We could also find ourselves facing an illness, loss of a job, or any other major change. No matter how difficult the circumstances, you can change your attitude. If you don’t, you’ll just be miserable.
Life is always changing and in our modern times the pace seems to be increasing. Remember, when you choose an optimistic attitude, change won’t be as painful. You may even discover solutions that can assist you and others too.
The Steps To Energetically Benefit from This AP Session:
- If you haven’t done the Intention Session, then do this first and only once. Think of it as downloading an App on your smartphone. Once completed then you’re ready to benefit from any of our AP movies/TV shows.
- Rent and watch the entire movie: The Proposal
- If you notice relief in the subsequent days, please pass this blog to someone you know who might appreciate some assistance. If you’re so inspired to like us on our Facebook page or Google+ – we welcome the love!
Great message! Thanks so much! Barb
What you wrote is very true. The most difficult part of making a change or a choice to go in a different direction is deciding which choice is truly the best. Some decisions and choices seem to flow organically and others are painful to make and leave you with doubts.
Thanks for your insight!
Love it! Spot on!!!
It reminds me of the story about A Carrot, An Egg And A Cup Of Coffee…
You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed
ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a
bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.
Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me, what you see?” “Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft.
The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, “What does it mean, mother?”
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity. boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling
water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
Which are you?” she asked her daughter.
“When adversity knocks on your door, how do you [choose to] respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?”
Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a palleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.
When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you [choose to] handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
I refer to this one often. :o)
Perfect story Tracey. Thanks for sharing it with us!
It has been my experience (painful at times), if you do not change your attitude first, you’ll just keep re creating the same situation over and over again. Often times going from the “frying pan” the fire
I love the blog! The exact message that I needed today!!! It’s really cool that you a writing a blog that is tailored to my life and what I need at the moment… Are any of your followers getting jealous?