Rebound: The Power of Attitude

Smitty here, and I am grateful to have this forum in which to share my lesson today.

In working my recovery exercise in CTC for today, I was struck by this sentence. "It is amazing, my attitude towards others tends to return to me like a basketball rebounding off a backboard."

I read also several pages this morning in a book by John Q. Baucom. He shares another time-worn principle:  "The response you get is the meaning of the message you send."

Simply put, this applies only to things within my personal control. An example might be, that if I am angry with others, my anger generates more friction and anger in the world around me.

Sometimes I learn from my own mistakes, but I can learn just as well from something done or said to me. 

When my mom speaks unkind words to me, darned if I don't want to be unkind back!  And, she gets defensive when I tell her how it makes me feel.  How much I want to tell her that accepting me unconditionally, might help us both feel a whole lot safer!

"If I am unhappy with what I receive, I might try looking for that same behavior in myself. It may not take exactly the same form, but I find that whatever I dislike in another is something I dislike in myself. The reverse is also true: When I admire in others probably reflects an admirable quality within me, [that I may not have fully developed yet.]"

It is in my best interest to treat even problematic persons the way I want to be treated. I think the author's words are a good preventative medicine for me to keep by my phone for the inevitable button-pushing of my mom:  "I try to imagine that my words and actions are being addressed to myself, because in the long run I generally get back what I give out."

Help me HP to be aware of the attitudes I'm giving and receiving.  By being aware, I can learn to change my world. 

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."  Ralph Waldo Emerson