POSITIVE ATTITUDE “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms-to choose one’s own attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Viktor Frankl

Journal Writing: Suppose that…. You find yourself in the following situation. Imagine what might happen if you approach it with a negative attitude. Explain what could happen. Now imagine what might happen if you approach it with a positive attitude. Explain what could happen. The situation: Someone close to you tells you that you’ve done something really dumb and that you’ll never amount to anything.

Three different people Helen Keller Malcolm X Joe Paterno Today, ‘having an attitude’ usually means a bad attitude (as in “He’s got an attitude!”) or “Don’t give me any attitude!”). In this unit, we’re going to focus on developing positive attitudes -as shown by the three examples you just heard about.

So what about attitude? Your attitude is your point of view, your outlook on life, your state or frame of mind. It determines the choices you make and how you feel about the people, things, and events around you. If your attitude tells you school is boring, that’s how it will seem to you and you most likely wont give school much effort. Similarly, raking leaves can either be torture or fun. So, why not have fun? When you have positive attitudes, you can choose how to react to each situation you encounter. You can CHOOSE what you think, feel, and do. This gives you enormous personal power- to control yourself from the inside out, to direct your own future.

“YOU ACCEPT THINGS AS THEY ARE, NOT AS YOU WISH THEY WERE IN THIS MOMENT….THE PAST IS HISTORY, THE FUTURE IS A MYSTERY, AND THIS MOMENT IS A GIFT. THAT IS WHY THIS MOMENT IS CALLED THE PRESENT.” DEEPAK CHOPRA, M.D. Identify and discuss situations you’ve experienced where the above quote has had meaning in your life. How does this quote connect with having a positive attitude?

Learning to be positive is important for success in every aspect of your life. How do you develop this important character trait? You can choose to be optimistic. A pessimist is described as someone who sees a glass of water as half empty. An optimist sees it as half full. The pessimist focuses on the negative (missing water), the optimist focuses on the positive (water still there). Who has the better outlook? Who is likelier to be the happier, more confident, successful person? You can choose to accept things as they are. This doesn’t mean you give up! It means you don’t whine, cry, pitch a fit, blame others or make excuses when you’re having a tough time or when things aren’t going how you want them to. Having behaviors makes you a helpless victim and gives others power and control, not to mention, that in high school or as you become an adult you look pretty silly doing those things. Instead, get on with your life, move forward, tell yourself everything will work out.

You can choose to be resilient. Have you ever watched a tree swaying in a storm? A tree that stands rigidly will never win a battle against the wind. Trees that bend with the wind are those that survive. Like a tree, you can bend an sway as life deals you tough times. Then bounce back again when the tough times die down! When you’re resilient, you can survive almost anything-being hurt, frustrated, let down, losing friends, making mistakes, and more. Remember the image of a tree in a storm. You can learn a lot from nature! You can choose to be cheerful and happy. Have you spent time around cheerful, happy people? Those kind of people energize you! They’re almost like human battery chargers. You can be one too! Start by refusing to say negative things. Bite your tongue, count to ten, force a smile. When you think and say positive, happy things, positive people are attracted to you. The more you do and think positive things, the more positive you’ll feel! You can choose to be enthusiastic. Greet each new day with excitement. Approach tasks and chores with an eagerness. Enthusiasm is catching! The more upbeat you are, the more people around you will feel and act the same and the better you will feel. You can choose to be more alert. If you’re more alert to potential problems, you can be better prepared for them and even dodge some. If you know a situation is a set up for potential problems, say no thank you to it! You can also be alert to positive experiences. If you hear an announcement of a club or activity you want to try, write down the time and place and plan to go!

You can choose to have a sense of humor. When you do something silly (everyone does), don’t miss the opportunity to laugh at yourself. It’s one of life’s great joys. I’ve done many dorky things and I’ve provided myself (and others) many happy hours of entertainment! It’s ok to laugh at yourself and will help you develop a positive attitude and healthy self esteem! Choose to be a good sport. Having this kind of positive attitude can win you friends even if you don’t win a game or competition. Being a good sport means losing gracefully-smiling, shaking hands with the winner, not blaming other people or circumstances for your loss. Being a good sport also means not being ‘Tarzan’ and pounding your chest and gloating when you’re victorious. In other words….. Choose to be humble. People who brag or ‘toot their own horn’ seldom attract an audience. If you’re genuinely interested in others and a truly good person, they’ll see your good qualities even if you don’t advertise them. You can choose to be grateful. Think about it: You probably have a lot to be grateful for. Gratitude puts a smile on your face. It makes you feel good about life and other people feel good about being around you.

You can choose to have faith. Having faith means believing that things will work out for you-and that you can work things out for yourself. If you expect to fail, you will. If you expect to do well and achieve your goals, you will. You can choose to have hope. Without hope, life has no meaning or point. We expect nothing, plan nothing, and don’t set goals for ourselves. (why bother?) Hope may be your most important positive attitude-the basis for all the others. What do you hope for? What are your dreams? What are your ambitions? What is your purpose in life? If you're willing to consider these questions, you’re already a hopeful person. If you’re not willing to consider these questions then this is the first step you should work on to develop a positive attitude and strengthen this important character trait. “Hope is the thing with feathers- That perches on the soul- And sings the tune without the words- And never stops- at all-” Emily Dickinson

IN YOUR JOURNAL…… During the last class we discussed twelve ways to start developing a positive attitude. In your journal, tell me one of the steps YOU are applying to your life to begin to develop a positive attitude. Give me an example of how you have used that step since the last class to change when you were thinking negatively and tried to begin to think positively. If you haven’t used any steps, which one do you want to start applying and how do you plan to do this?

How many steps can you remember? Choose to be optimistic (glass half full) Choose to accept things how they are (Don’t give up but learn and move forward!) Choose to be resilient (remember the tree swaying in the wind) Choose to be cheerful (Happy people are more fun to be around!) Choose to be enthusiastic (remember the raking leaves? Can be torture or fun…fun is better!) Choose to be more alert to potential problems and avoid them as well as be more alert to opportunities to be involved with positive experiences. Choose to have a sense of humor (laugh at yourself….I am entertainment for myself! ) Choose to be a good sport (you have to lose sometimes and don’t brag when you win) Choose to be humble (your good qualities will shine, you don’t need to advertise) Choose to be grateful (look at the bright side, it could always be worse!) Choose to have faith that things will work out for you (don’t expect to fail, expect to achieve!) Choose to have hope (have dreams, set goals)

EVERYBODY STAND UP! MEMORY CHECK!

Character in Action Ricardo Dence: Having an Attitude What things did he do to change his attitude? How did changing his attitude affect his life?

Role Play Time! Role play these situations to show how people might demonstrate positive and negative attitudes: An employer firing an employee. A football coach instructing a player. A mom correcting a child who screams when he doesn’t get his own way. An older sibling trying to get a younger sibling to stay out of his room. A student pointing out that a teacher has made a mistake on a test. A friend trying to stop another friend from lying.

Assignment: Collect quotes about positive attitudes. Surf the internet, look in books or magazines. Do keyword searches on the internet for words like; Optimism, Acceptance, Resiliency, Cheerfulness, Enthusiasm, Alertness, Humor, Being a good sport, Humility, Gratitude, Faith, Hope, Positive Attitude, Happiness, Humble, Positive Self Talk Create a poster with quotes you find. This poster will be graded on NEATNESS = 10pts Added Color = 5pts This poster will be graded on amount of quotes = more than 20 10pts pts pts less than 10 0pts Total Assignment Possible Points = 25 pnts