Set-up time?

Have you ever waited too long to fix something?

Maybe you walked into Jiffy Lube the other day and they told you it looked like you hadn’t changed the oil in your car for over 15,000 miles…or maybe you finally cleaned out the fridge in the garage just this weekend. realizing that there were leftovers from your neighborhood Christmas party in 2007…

A bad haircut? That screeching noise the air conditioner makes? The leak coming from the bathroom floor upstairs? But, worst of all… your attitude?

No matter what the scenario, if you wait and wait and wait and wait (commonly known as “procrastinating”) to fix something you needed to work on the first time you noticed it, you’ll definitely have a bigger problem than the one you started with. There can be a disgusting, stinky, colorful mess just like with the refrigerator; a burned valve or gasket as in the car; or a $1,500 repair bill for your air conditioner. There is simply no point in waiting in the hope that the problem or situation will magically resolve itself or reverse course through some universal mystical osmosis.

So what about bad attitudes?

If you think about it, how long have we been letting this whole attitude thing slide?

I asked a group of people over the past few weeks what their definition of a positive attitude was, and the almost overwhelming consensus was this: a positive attitude is believing that the best possible outcome will manifest in every situation… despite reality. Did you catch that last part? “Despite reality”! Woof. This one has been gnawing at me for a while…

We seem to have given in to so much negativity throughout our lives, and become so comfortable with limiting thoughts, that most people believe that reality is something other than good or positive. Our collective consciousness actually expects bad things to happen!

It was amazing talking to people, most of whom I knew as neighbors, friends, former co-workers or family members. The underlying theme was that a positive attitude is something you have to pretend to have. And the reason you have to pretend is because it’s not real. You know, it’s like the old part of being “realistic” and not pessimistic.

Most people talked about how annoying it was to be around someone who is always happy. And there were a lot of comments about not liking the boy or girl who smiled all the time. Once again, I have to say, “Wow!”

I know that the sentiment of these good people is genuine, because I can remember a scene in my own life when I was having a somewhat heated argument with someone I cared about a lot. At one point in the conversation, I was told to “take my positive attitude and shove it up my ass.” Apparently, the concept of trying to see things from a positive perspective is too much for some people. That particular conflict was finally resolved and I didn’t have to sacrifice my perspective so drastically.

The point is that we have become a culture that abhors the happy and the positive and embraces the sad and the negative. Or at least, accept the sad and negative as something inevitable. Truth be told, we have traveled over 15,000 miles since our last attitude change!

Life, in itself, is neither negative nor positive. It is our perception of it, reaction to it, attitude about it, and the action we take that literally determines our reality.

If we could get into our minds and look around us, we’d probably see that there’s more dirt and stickiness in there than any car engine or garage refrigerator could possibly hold. This is the result of neglected and careless negative thinking that just sticks around and perpetuates itself, while all the positive potential keeps draining away through that leak that we just haven’t found the time to fix.

And guess what? The damage that this type of carelessness can cause in our lives is incredible. The wear and tear that any of us suffer as a result of negativity and limitation can cost us dearly.

If you’ve noticed that you have a bad attitude about something, this is the best advice you’ll get from anyone: FIX IT!

It doesn’t cost a penny to change your attitude and it can be done almost instantly. Leaving it for later will almost always result in events and circumstances that will not be pleasant for you. A bad attitude is like a bald tire waiting to hit the last rock before it explodes and sends you reeling and skidding off the road. Resolve to fix it now!

You don’t even need to go anywhere to change your attitude; It can be done right where you sit or stand. But something must be done, or it will never change. And if it never changes, life will continue to reflect back to you all the negative scenes that you are inviting and attracting by virtue of your dominant negative mindset.

Here are three quick ways to start making the kind of lasting change that will ultimately result in a life of more happiness and good things than bad moods and bad things. Every time you feel negative or depressed or bitter or “blah” do one of these things and start taking some action to fix the problem you may have been ignoring for far too long!

1. Think of someone or something you love. It can be anything from a newborn baby boy to your favorite vacation cabin in some exotic land. Think about it for a while. Notice the change in your feelings. Is that how it works. The longer you can hold positive thoughts about this person, place, or thing, the longer you will feel good. And the longer you feel good, the closer you are to developing a more positive mindset. If you train yourself to do this whenever the urge arises, it will become a habit for you, and then you will automatically return to a more positive feeling when you notice yourself starting to turn negative. Yes, you will need to practice this until it becomes a part of your lifestyle, just like sticking to the oil change schedule for your car.

2. Smile. This is good because it forces your attitude to change. It is not possible for you to be upset, moody, negative or bitter when you are smiling. It is like turning on a light in a dark room. As long as the light stays on, the room is illuminated. Same principle. Of course, you can’t always be smiling, but starting the process with a smile will create more circumstances why you feel like smiling. It sounds wacky, but it really works! There is an added benefit to smiling, and that is that it makes those around you smile too. Even better than a yawn, it can cause a domino effect that takes a room full of sadness and transforms it into a party!

3. Be thankful. This is the fastest way to have a positive attitude. When you start thinking seriously about the blessings in your life, you won’t be able to help it. And it can start anywhere… your health, or your great doctors if you’re sick, your house or apartment, or the wonderful people you live with, the car you drive, even if it’s not your dream car yet, the friends you have, your children, your partner, your pet, the books you have read, the seminars you have attended, the air you breathe, the sunset, your job, the food in your pantry, your church or anything else in your life that you are truly grateful for and would be worse off without. This begins to change your perspective in a very real sense and you literally begin to see your life through the other side of the glass, so to speak. All that negativity that was blocking your true light will begin to fade like a lonely cloud pack in a summer afternoon sky.

Any of these will get you started, and there’s no better time to start than right now. Put these positive principles into practice and see how much better it feels to follow a healthy maintenance program, instead of waiting until a leak shows up!