April 4, 2016

Attitude

by Keith Nesbitt (author's profile)

Transcription

Attitude

Your attitude is everything. Your attitude to approach, delivery, and departure are crucial not only to your wellbeing, success, and health but to others as well. Your whole makeup is embedded within your attitude and is what you use to navigate your way through life. If you have a bad attitude, you should expect things to not go well.

When you maintain a good attitude, you stand a better chance at good things occurring in your life. But you should not expect this. Why? Because if you only expect good things, maybe you will get them. If you expect exceptional things to occur, that means you are working toward making them happen. That is the attitude you display for your goal. Why would you allow it to be any other way? You do not have to overachieve to get good things to fall in place in your life, but you must put in the work to get the ball rolling.

When you condition your mind for success, there is no room for failure. On a small scale, some failure is unavoidable. You will not look to fail. Failure is not on your agenda but you must always prepare for it. Always condition your mind for the unexpected and maintain your course. We all go through something, situations and things we don't necessary want to go through or address, but you must persevere and address all issues in your life. After all, you did go through prison, right? And in doing so, you addressed those issues that brought you to its gate, even though you did not want to, and you made it through. Now you must continue your journey.

There is always the chance you may be pulled over by a police officer. This will be one of many tests you will have to endure, address, and make it through to prove that you can keep your attitude in check. You will be scrutinized in the airport again. Check that attitude. You may pull up at a 24-hour restaurant drive-thru and be refused service. Do not cop an attitude because you assume you are not being served for a certain reason. FYI, every 24-hour restaurant takes an hour break and you may have driven up at the wrong time. Remember, you have been away so you must make these adjustments. These are just some of the situations you may face when you reenter society.

You must approach every situation with your best attitude. You are not looking to cause any noise out there. It may be tough, at first, to approach every situation with your best attitude, but that doesn't dismiss you from making a conscious effort to do so. When you maintain a good attitude, others around you will mostly likely feel the same way too. You will feel way better than if you carried on with a bad attitude.

The attitude test will assist you in surviving society and prevent you from becoming a repeat statistic in the prison system. A negative attitude can easily turn you into a negative reactor. This isn't what you want.

A positive attitude will help you think and function clearly. It is not your duty to attend to every argument. You should be a subjective reactor, meaning you should always give each situation you encounter the benefit of the doubt and always be willing to find a peaceful and positive resolution. A poor attitude will eventually lead to an altercation or many, especially if you do not keep it in check.

Violence is a public health issue that has a substantial negative impact on individuals, their family, community, and society as a whole. It affects millions a year and should be avoided at all costs. Do not force yourself to be a screw up project when you do not have to be. You have walked that line already and there is no need to repeat it. It is time to walk a new line, a positive one, for the rest of your life.

Ask yourself every day, "Am I being humble? Do I have the best attitude?" Never impede your progress or purpose by not being humble.

Here is what I learned through personal experience: nothing lasts forever. You do not have to walk around smiling all day, but you do not have to frown either. Wearing a frown mask will cause stress and headaches, and be an invitation to be approached in the same manner and seek things that further anger you. Deal with thing as a whole, not jut in a one-sided way. Not "your way", equally.

If something causes you to change your attitude, it is imperative to learn the cause and quickly get it in check. One issue can lead to others if you do not. There is always a reason for an ex-felon to lose in the eyes of the law, and rightfully so. You must always remain within the realm of your personal contract to succeed. Your overall transition from prison to society is up to you and your effort. No one can put forth a better effort than you because only you know the level that you need to succeed.

You may dilute your Kool-aid with water, but do not be delusional about how you are expected to conduct yourself in society. If you act like a boy or girl out there, make no mistake, you will receive an adult size punishment that may last forever. Think about it the next time your attitude sours. Be mindful, thoughtful, and considerate when dealing with others. Do not make everything about you all the time.

You may consider joining a trade school to enhance your skills, receive higher pay, improve your chances of success, and teach you discipline on multiple levels. You owe it to yourself to take this approach.

Ask yourself these questions:
What is the cause of my anger?
Can I consistently recognize my body signals to anger?
Do I recognize my anger behaviors?
Can I consistently direct my anger?

You must find the answers to have balance in your life. Always think and be positive. Always find an alternative to violence.

Install a safeguard between you, your actions, and your anger. Have a network of family and friends you can confide in when you're going through anger issues. The inner fear of being judged is far greater than losing your cool in bad situations.

There is no reason to actually catch an attitude just because you are being looked at. Nobody can keep another from looking at whoever they want to look at. This looking thing has always been and will remain a part of the makeup of this country. There are so many reasons why this is done, and it is a way for people to learn about others.

Once you recognize anger creeping up, it's a good time to walk away and regroup. Do not wait until you are at your worst to do your best.

The world does not belong to your nor does it owe you anything. it is not against you either. Do not be against the world. Anger doesn't belong to you so don't allow it the rent space. Blend in, fit in, and behave the laws of society. It is worth it. A bad attitude can screw up the cosmos of your world and everybody around you. Why make them suffer?

Favorite

Replies (4) Replies feed

BostonRocks Posted 7 years, 5 months ago. ✓ Mailed 7 years, 5 months ago   Favorite
Hi Keith,

I was starting to transcribe one of your posts but through this application (between the bars) I do not have the option to type in bold as you have done in your posts. My only option is to capitalize it but before doing so I wanted to check with you to make sure you were okay with it. After all, it is your writing and I would like it to appear as you see fit.

Thanks so much!

Keith Nesbitt Posted 7 years, 4 months ago.   Favorite
(scanned reply – view as blog post)

RonG123 Posted 7 years, 4 months ago. ✓ Mailed 7 years, 4 months ago   Favorite
Hey Keith,

Enjoying your communication to others and taking your leadership to others. Great to see your work.




Ron

RonG123 Posted 7 years, 4 months ago. ✓ Mailed 7 years, 4 months ago   Favorite
Hi Keith,

I'm inspired to see the level of communication, great to see your leadership being shared.


Ron

We will print and mail your reply by . Guidelines

Other posts by this author

Subscribe

Get notifications when new letters or replies are posted!

Posts by Keith Nesbitt: RSS email me
Comments on “Attitude”: RSS email me
Featured posts: RSS email me
All Between the Bars posts: RSS