In 1994, I had just graduated from college and began working with FurstStaffing.  Darlene Furst gave me a piece of paper with a poem on it.  I tacked this piece of paper above my desk in the 2 room office we were renting across the street from a manufacturing client.  The poem is titled “Attitude” and its author is Charles Swindell. 

ATTITUDE

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of

attitude on my life.  Attitude, to me is more important

than facts.  It is more important than the past, then

education, than money, than circumstances, than

failures, than successes, than what other people think

or say or do.  It is more important than appearance,

giftedness or skill.  It will make or break a company, a

church, a home.  The remarkable thing is we have a

choice every day regarding the attitude we will

embrace for that day.  We cannot change the fact that

people will act in a certain way.  We cannot change

the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play on

the one string we have, and that is our attitude.  I am

convinced that life is 10 % what happens to me and

90% how I react to it.  And so it is with you.  We are in

charge of our attitudes.

When I am working through a challenging or difficult time I often reflect on this poem.   It is a simple poem, with a simple message that gets me in the right mind set to meet and overcome whatever challenges I might face and life in general.