You Choose

Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, “If I were any better, I would be twins!” He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, “I don't get it! You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?” Michael replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or...you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood.

Change

Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better.

- King Whitney Jr.

Often when we experience change we manage to feel all of these things in a mixed and confusing mass. Few of us are able to see clearly the light at the end of the tunnel when we are in the throes of a difficult change. Consequently, change is hard and often somewhat frightening. So true for our children. Yet, hopefully we have enough experience to know that change is good and offers much promise.