How's Your Attitude?

With the 2007 baseball season in full swing, here is a great story to remind you of the importance of attitude. Larry King, the CNN interviewer and radio/TV personality, tells of a visit to Miami’s Joe Robbie Stadium before a spring training game. King says manager Tommy Lasorda was introducing him to players and having a good time. They walked past Eddie Murray at first base and Lasorda said, ‘Hey, Eddie, how you doing?’ Murray replied simply, ‘Okay.’

At that, Lasorda went wild. “Okay? Okay? Two million dollars a year. It’s March. There ain’t a cloud in the sky. You’re standing there wearing a major-league uniform. You’re thirty-three years old, you’re going to the Hall of Fame, and you’re saying okay? You say, ‘Great, Tommy!’” Murray, looking at Lasorda like he was a maniac, seemed at a loss for words. Lasorda tried again, “You say it: ‘I feel great!’” So Eddie started saying, “I feel great!”

I have heard my friend Bill Glass, professional football player and evangelist, say many times, “Your attitude determines your altitude.” By that he means that you will only go as far in life as your attitude allows. Nobody wants to be around or follow someone with a bad attitude.

How do you change your attitude? Your attitude is shaped by what you think about. Our tendency is to focus on the negative, what someone has aptly called, “stinkin’ thinkin.” Too often we are fixated on the challenging circumstances of our life. While you may not be able to change your circumstances, you can change your attitude. Perhaps you have heard the old rhyme, “Two men looked past prison bars. One saw mud, the other saw stars.”

Philippians 4:8 reminds us of the importance of what we think about, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.” Men, I encourage you to do an attitude check. Is your attitude in line with things mentioned in the verse above? If not, what will you do about it?

Shoulder to Shoulder,

Gregg