CHAPTER FIVE: ATTITUDES DETERMINE ALTITUDE
On the instrument panel of every airplane is a device called the attitude indicator. This instrument shows the pilot the airplane’s true position relative to the horizon. This indicator is not affected by conditions of rain, fog, darkness or any other environmental circumstances. Even if the ground is invisible, to the pilot, he or she can know with certainty whether the plane is level or banking or if the nose is pitched upward or downward, thanks to the altitude indicator. If the nose is pitched upward while the power is applied, then the plane will climb; if downward, the plane descends. The plane’s attitude is a key factor in determining whether an airplane goes up or down. The same thing is true of us in the way we live our lives. We can go as high as our attitude will take us, or if our attitude points in the wrong direction we can crash and burn. Positive thoughts create constructive actions that lift us up toward our goals. Negative thoughts breed destructive reactions that drag us toward the muck and mire of failure. It all depends on attitude.
Your attitude can help you to overcome the worst imaginable circumstances in life. During the Vietnam war there was an Air Force Colonel who was shot down and captured in North Vietnam. He spent five and a half years in solitary confinement as a prisoner of war. The boredom and sensory deprivation of the dreadful existence destroyed the minds and lives of many other brave men. Though he was barefoot and dressed in his black prison uniform, shut up in a tiny cubicle, he discovered that through his mind he had an amazing freedom. He was able to leave his prison cell clad in a Polo shirt and slacks. He wore clean black and white golf shoes. He could feel the thick green grass of Pebble Beach golf course in northern California. The sun was shining and there was a gentle breeze coming of the Pacific Ocean. The Colonel played each hole, starting with the first and ending with the eighteenth. He studied each shot, measured each swing, felt each blade of grass between his fingers as he replaced every divot. He noted the sand in each bunker, hit each shot, sank each putt and strode on to the next hole---all in his imagination. Every day for five and a half years he played a perfect game of golf on the Pebble Beach course. The Colonel realized that only he had the power to make a choice between being resigned to his fate of fear and hopelessness or he could replay his happiest moments from the past, taking his mind of solitary confinement and setting it free upon a beautiful and famous golf course. When he returned from his captivity, in his first golf game he shot a 76-not a bad score for a professional golfer, but even more amazing for an amateur. When asked how he had accomplished such a feat, he replied “In the past five and a half years, I never putted a green in more than two strokes” All those years of playing perfect games in the recesses of his mind, had produced a near perfect performance on a real golf course!
It should come as no surprise to you that we act out precisely what our minds take in. In other words we become what we think. I believe that the enemy spends no little amount of time attacking the way we think. Satan knows if he can control the mind, that he can control us. He has a number of methods that he has used throughout the years. One of his favorite methods is to try and convince us that we are so bad and so inadequate that God can’t possibly use us or even love us.
Paul addresses this subject many times in his letters. In Ephesians 6:10-11 he says “Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Notice those four final words: “schemes of the devil.” The term “schemes” is translated methodia, from which we get our English word method. The devil has a well thought out, time tested and effective strategy, designed to lead to our destruction. Paul goes on in the 12 verse to say that the “struggle is not against flesh and blood”. This is a battle for our mind. It’s an intangible struggle that we cannot see and it’s fought in the realm of the supernatural.
Paul again addresses this struggle in military language when he says “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. (2 Cor. 10:3-5). Cities used to be built within thick, massive walls. Those walls provided a barrier that protected the city, holding the enemy at bay. Before any army could conquer a city, it first had to overcome that protective wall. Towers were erected within the wall so that the men of the city could position themselves so that that could see the location of the enemy and shout their commands in hopes of warding off the enemy attack. In order for the enemy to take the city, three objectives had to be accomplished. First, the wall had to be scaled. Second the towers had to be invaded. Third, the soldiers protecting the city had to be captured.
Our minds were originally enemy held territory and Satan doesn’t want to give them up without a fight. He has developed fortresses in our minds, which are like walls that we have to penetrate. The “lofty things” that Paul refers to are the mental blocks that we’ve erected against spiritual viewpoints. We are prompted to go back to carnal habits when we are under pressure, under attack, undergoing a test, when doing without, persecuted, criticized or done wrong. We have a tendency to revert back to our old form, those strategies that we have used in the past even though they may have proven to be unsuccessful. We are indeed creatures of habit. God wants to help us to break free from this kind of bondage. He realized that each “lofty thing” had dug in and must be dislodged. For too many years, we have convinced ourselves that we lack this or we cannot do that…….we should not risk…….we are sure to fail or that we ought to accept the status quo as our standard. All of us have formed our own kind of negative self talk.
All of us have had a negative attitude at sometime or another. It may be about people we're associated with. It may be about our career. It may even be about us. We choose our pattern of thinking. We may not be able to control our surroundings or circumstances, but we can control our reaction. We choose to be positive or negative.
The root problem of our "stinking thinking" comes from a negative self image. Psychologists tell us that 99% of all people have had at one time or another a negative self image (it's actually 100%, but psychologists don't admit to absolutes, so they say it's 99%). If you tell me that you have never had a negative self image, I know you have two problems. You are a liar and you have a negative self image. Let me explain why. Let's look at little Johnny. Little Johnny one morning decides that he is going to try to drink his milk for the very first time. As he move the milk from the high chair to his mouth, he loses his grip on the glass and he drops it, spilling it all over himself, his chair and the floor. His mother, already impatient with him, yells "Johnny, you stupid idiot, you spilled your milk". The fact that Johnny spilled his milk is not a revelation to him. It's cold and it's running down his leg. What is a revelation to Johnny is that he is a stupid idiot, something he did not know before. Later in the day, Johnny comes in from playing outside and tracks dirt all over the nicely shampooed carpet, which was cleaned in anticipation of company that evening. Johnny's dad grabs Johnny and yell "you pig, you must have been born in a born. Look what you did". Johnny now in one day has learned that he is a "stupid idiot that spills milk and is a pig that was born in a barn". Now Johnny thinks of himself not of one who made a mistake, but as one you made a mistake. Do see the difference?
Here are some techniques to help you turn negative feelings into positive ones. Try these concepts and see if they will work for you.
1. Change beliefs through affirmations. Start with some of your negative beliefs like "I'm no good at computers." This thought process is just blocking your success. Turn that negative thought into a positive one. Say to yourself, "I enjoy working with computers: I can do it when I try hard enough" Keep talking to yourself that way, no matter how much you believe it is not true. Research shows that going through the motions outside creates the emotions inside. Positive self talk is one of the most important things that you can do to improve you self image.
2. Avoid negative thinking. I realize that we all have bad days, but sometimes we create our own bad days because we tell our selves it’s going to be a bad day. I always try to wake up and say “good morning Lord”. I think that is much better that waking up and saying “good Lord, morning? What kind of negative self talk are you using to keep you from attaining God’s best in your life. Try looking at what you can do through Christ and not what you can’t do on your own.
3. Write out your negative thoughts. Keep a journal of your negative thoughts and write down how these thoughts have affected your attitude and behavior that day. Rewrite the negative thoughts to reflect a more positive approach. Then reread it once a day. You will soon find you are having less negative thoughts as you retrain yourself to think in a more positive way.
4. Practice mental focus. Learn to live in the moment and to savor each experience. Really enjoy and concentrate on each minute in time. Realize that each day is a precious gift from God. Focus on the thought that “This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it”. This will help keep you from worrying about the failure of the past or fretting over what the future holds.
5. Choose each day what kind of a day you are going to have. You already do that unconsciously. Do you have to force yourself out of bed because you dread the day ahead? If so, you’re attitude will become a self fulfilling prophesy be you will most likely have a bad day. When you find yourself doing that, force yourself to think of one positive thing about the day, and then move on from there to think about other positive events. Maybe it will be going to lunch at a place you particularly like or treating yourself to an activity after work.
At the age of 67, Thomas Edison watched as fire destroyed much of his work and equipment. Time to retire? Time to hang up the lab coat? No way. "All our mistakes are burned up," the inventor said. "Now we can start anew." There is a time to retire, but Edison knew his time hadn't come. The fire that consumed his work didn't destroy the fire that burned within him to continue his work. Edison's commitment remained.
You see, Edison didn't give up. His attitude was not to run, but to continue the fight. On the other hand, we have Hagar. If you don't know the story, it is found in the book of Genesis. Abram and Sarai (this was before their names were changed to Abraham and Sara) were well up there in age, certainly well beyond child bearing years. They decided God wasn't moving fast enough. Maybe He forgot. Maybe He changed His mind. Maybe He was just too busy. Whatever the reason was, they decided He needed help. We've all been there haven't we. We aren't getting the promotion fast enough, the answers aren't coming soon enough, the house we have isn't big enough, the car we drive isn't nice enough. We feel God is to slow and we have to move faster and "help" Him out. I've got news for you! God doesn't need your help. Well back to Hagar. Hagar was Sarai made. In those days, it was normal for a person in her position to be called upon to be a substitute wife for the purpose of bearing a child. That was what Sarai decided to do to "help God out". In Chapter 16, we find Sarai treating Hagar harshly. We aren't given the details, but we do know that whatever was happening, she got moving-in the wrong direction. You see Hagar tried to run away from her problem, but it didn't work.
There are times when change—moving to a new city or a new home, or changing careers—is the right thing at the right time. But there are also times when the urge for change is really just a desire to run away from problems that need to be faced rather than avoided. These are the kinds of problems that recur in our lives. For example, issues with coworkers that seem to arise at every job we take, or repeatedly getting into unhealthy relationships. A move may be a temporary solution to the problem. However, the problem will eventually appear again in our new situation.
Any pain involved in facing our issues is well worth the effort in the end. When we face our problems instead of avoiding them, we free our energy and transform ourselves from people who run away into people who move enthusiastically forward.
These words were found in the diary of a teenager, who is wise beyond her years:
"Staring at the sky; The million things that lie there
Wishing to be up there; Away from the chaos in my life.
Longing to escape; From the pressure I feel now
I don't enjoy life any more; I want to run away.
But when I return; Will my problems be gone?
Will everything be better; Or will things stay the same?
No, nothing will change; Because problems don't disappear
Running away won't make a difference; So it's better to stay here.
Sort through my problems; With my friends by my side
Know that people are by me; Don't worry about the bad things."
To read chapter six, click here.
Your attitude can help you to overcome the worst imaginable circumstances in life. During the Vietnam war there was an Air Force Colonel who was shot down and captured in North Vietnam. He spent five and a half years in solitary confinement as a prisoner of war. The boredom and sensory deprivation of the dreadful existence destroyed the minds and lives of many other brave men. Though he was barefoot and dressed in his black prison uniform, shut up in a tiny cubicle, he discovered that through his mind he had an amazing freedom. He was able to leave his prison cell clad in a Polo shirt and slacks. He wore clean black and white golf shoes. He could feel the thick green grass of Pebble Beach golf course in northern California. The sun was shining and there was a gentle breeze coming of the Pacific Ocean. The Colonel played each hole, starting with the first and ending with the eighteenth. He studied each shot, measured each swing, felt each blade of grass between his fingers as he replaced every divot. He noted the sand in each bunker, hit each shot, sank each putt and strode on to the next hole---all in his imagination. Every day for five and a half years he played a perfect game of golf on the Pebble Beach course. The Colonel realized that only he had the power to make a choice between being resigned to his fate of fear and hopelessness or he could replay his happiest moments from the past, taking his mind of solitary confinement and setting it free upon a beautiful and famous golf course. When he returned from his captivity, in his first golf game he shot a 76-not a bad score for a professional golfer, but even more amazing for an amateur. When asked how he had accomplished such a feat, he replied “In the past five and a half years, I never putted a green in more than two strokes” All those years of playing perfect games in the recesses of his mind, had produced a near perfect performance on a real golf course!
It should come as no surprise to you that we act out precisely what our minds take in. In other words we become what we think. I believe that the enemy spends no little amount of time attacking the way we think. Satan knows if he can control the mind, that he can control us. He has a number of methods that he has used throughout the years. One of his favorite methods is to try and convince us that we are so bad and so inadequate that God can’t possibly use us or even love us.
Paul addresses this subject many times in his letters. In Ephesians 6:10-11 he says “Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Notice those four final words: “schemes of the devil.” The term “schemes” is translated methodia, from which we get our English word method. The devil has a well thought out, time tested and effective strategy, designed to lead to our destruction. Paul goes on in the 12 verse to say that the “struggle is not against flesh and blood”. This is a battle for our mind. It’s an intangible struggle that we cannot see and it’s fought in the realm of the supernatural.
Paul again addresses this struggle in military language when he says “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. (2 Cor. 10:3-5). Cities used to be built within thick, massive walls. Those walls provided a barrier that protected the city, holding the enemy at bay. Before any army could conquer a city, it first had to overcome that protective wall. Towers were erected within the wall so that the men of the city could position themselves so that that could see the location of the enemy and shout their commands in hopes of warding off the enemy attack. In order for the enemy to take the city, three objectives had to be accomplished. First, the wall had to be scaled. Second the towers had to be invaded. Third, the soldiers protecting the city had to be captured.
Our minds were originally enemy held territory and Satan doesn’t want to give them up without a fight. He has developed fortresses in our minds, which are like walls that we have to penetrate. The “lofty things” that Paul refers to are the mental blocks that we’ve erected against spiritual viewpoints. We are prompted to go back to carnal habits when we are under pressure, under attack, undergoing a test, when doing without, persecuted, criticized or done wrong. We have a tendency to revert back to our old form, those strategies that we have used in the past even though they may have proven to be unsuccessful. We are indeed creatures of habit. God wants to help us to break free from this kind of bondage. He realized that each “lofty thing” had dug in and must be dislodged. For too many years, we have convinced ourselves that we lack this or we cannot do that…….we should not risk…….we are sure to fail or that we ought to accept the status quo as our standard. All of us have formed our own kind of negative self talk.
All of us have had a negative attitude at sometime or another. It may be about people we're associated with. It may be about our career. It may even be about us. We choose our pattern of thinking. We may not be able to control our surroundings or circumstances, but we can control our reaction. We choose to be positive or negative.
The root problem of our "stinking thinking" comes from a negative self image. Psychologists tell us that 99% of all people have had at one time or another a negative self image (it's actually 100%, but psychologists don't admit to absolutes, so they say it's 99%). If you tell me that you have never had a negative self image, I know you have two problems. You are a liar and you have a negative self image. Let me explain why. Let's look at little Johnny. Little Johnny one morning decides that he is going to try to drink his milk for the very first time. As he move the milk from the high chair to his mouth, he loses his grip on the glass and he drops it, spilling it all over himself, his chair and the floor. His mother, already impatient with him, yells "Johnny, you stupid idiot, you spilled your milk". The fact that Johnny spilled his milk is not a revelation to him. It's cold and it's running down his leg. What is a revelation to Johnny is that he is a stupid idiot, something he did not know before. Later in the day, Johnny comes in from playing outside and tracks dirt all over the nicely shampooed carpet, which was cleaned in anticipation of company that evening. Johnny's dad grabs Johnny and yell "you pig, you must have been born in a born. Look what you did". Johnny now in one day has learned that he is a "stupid idiot that spills milk and is a pig that was born in a barn". Now Johnny thinks of himself not of one who made a mistake, but as one you made a mistake. Do see the difference?
Here are some techniques to help you turn negative feelings into positive ones. Try these concepts and see if they will work for you.
1. Change beliefs through affirmations. Start with some of your negative beliefs like "I'm no good at computers." This thought process is just blocking your success. Turn that negative thought into a positive one. Say to yourself, "I enjoy working with computers: I can do it when I try hard enough" Keep talking to yourself that way, no matter how much you believe it is not true. Research shows that going through the motions outside creates the emotions inside. Positive self talk is one of the most important things that you can do to improve you self image.
2. Avoid negative thinking. I realize that we all have bad days, but sometimes we create our own bad days because we tell our selves it’s going to be a bad day. I always try to wake up and say “good morning Lord”. I think that is much better that waking up and saying “good Lord, morning? What kind of negative self talk are you using to keep you from attaining God’s best in your life. Try looking at what you can do through Christ and not what you can’t do on your own.
3. Write out your negative thoughts. Keep a journal of your negative thoughts and write down how these thoughts have affected your attitude and behavior that day. Rewrite the negative thoughts to reflect a more positive approach. Then reread it once a day. You will soon find you are having less negative thoughts as you retrain yourself to think in a more positive way.
4. Practice mental focus. Learn to live in the moment and to savor each experience. Really enjoy and concentrate on each minute in time. Realize that each day is a precious gift from God. Focus on the thought that “This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it”. This will help keep you from worrying about the failure of the past or fretting over what the future holds.
5. Choose each day what kind of a day you are going to have. You already do that unconsciously. Do you have to force yourself out of bed because you dread the day ahead? If so, you’re attitude will become a self fulfilling prophesy be you will most likely have a bad day. When you find yourself doing that, force yourself to think of one positive thing about the day, and then move on from there to think about other positive events. Maybe it will be going to lunch at a place you particularly like or treating yourself to an activity after work.
At the age of 67, Thomas Edison watched as fire destroyed much of his work and equipment. Time to retire? Time to hang up the lab coat? No way. "All our mistakes are burned up," the inventor said. "Now we can start anew." There is a time to retire, but Edison knew his time hadn't come. The fire that consumed his work didn't destroy the fire that burned within him to continue his work. Edison's commitment remained.
You see, Edison didn't give up. His attitude was not to run, but to continue the fight. On the other hand, we have Hagar. If you don't know the story, it is found in the book of Genesis. Abram and Sarai (this was before their names were changed to Abraham and Sara) were well up there in age, certainly well beyond child bearing years. They decided God wasn't moving fast enough. Maybe He forgot. Maybe He changed His mind. Maybe He was just too busy. Whatever the reason was, they decided He needed help. We've all been there haven't we. We aren't getting the promotion fast enough, the answers aren't coming soon enough, the house we have isn't big enough, the car we drive isn't nice enough. We feel God is to slow and we have to move faster and "help" Him out. I've got news for you! God doesn't need your help. Well back to Hagar. Hagar was Sarai made. In those days, it was normal for a person in her position to be called upon to be a substitute wife for the purpose of bearing a child. That was what Sarai decided to do to "help God out". In Chapter 16, we find Sarai treating Hagar harshly. We aren't given the details, but we do know that whatever was happening, she got moving-in the wrong direction. You see Hagar tried to run away from her problem, but it didn't work.
There are times when change—moving to a new city or a new home, or changing careers—is the right thing at the right time. But there are also times when the urge for change is really just a desire to run away from problems that need to be faced rather than avoided. These are the kinds of problems that recur in our lives. For example, issues with coworkers that seem to arise at every job we take, or repeatedly getting into unhealthy relationships. A move may be a temporary solution to the problem. However, the problem will eventually appear again in our new situation.
Any pain involved in facing our issues is well worth the effort in the end. When we face our problems instead of avoiding them, we free our energy and transform ourselves from people who run away into people who move enthusiastically forward.
These words were found in the diary of a teenager, who is wise beyond her years:
"Staring at the sky; The million things that lie there
Wishing to be up there; Away from the chaos in my life.
Longing to escape; From the pressure I feel now
I don't enjoy life any more; I want to run away.
But when I return; Will my problems be gone?
Will everything be better; Or will things stay the same?
No, nothing will change; Because problems don't disappear
Running away won't make a difference; So it's better to stay here.
Sort through my problems; With my friends by my side
Know that people are by me; Don't worry about the bad things."
To read chapter six, click here.