Attitude

Attitude

A relaxed attitude lengthens life; jealousy rots it away.

Proverbs 14:30

My sister, Gail, married when she was thirty. Nowadays that’s rather common, but back when she was in her twenties, most of her friends had already married. While single, Gail stood up as a bridesmaid in numerous friends’ weddings. Throughout each one, I watched her maintain a good attitude. She chose to celebrate the happiness of each friend instead of giving in to jealousy and discontent. She chose to have a relaxed attitude.

Gail also displayed a relaxed attitude when she and Rick married. As they planned their wedding, they hired a company to videotape both the wedding and reception. The videographer showed up early on their wedding day and taped a lot of the preparations. Throughout the day, she captured special moments of the wedding and reception with people as young as the flower girl and as old as Great-Grandma.

When Gail and Rick returned from their honeymoon, the video company called them with some bad news. By mistake, the videographer had left the videotape in her camera for her next customer’s wedding, taping over all of Gail and Rick’s festivities. When my sister and her husband heard what had happened, they were terribly disappointed. But they also acknowledged that it was an unintentional mistake and that they were thankful for all the happy memories they did have—both in their minds and in other photos. They chose not to be resentful, and their mature attitude was a good example to our whole family.

The book of Proverbs teaches that if we have a relaxed perspective, our lives may be lengthened. That’s not a literal promise, of course, but it’s a general principle of existence here on earth—a principle that certainly improves our lives. A side benefit to cultivating this attitude is that we become more pleasant to be around!

Father,

It’s easy to complain and have a sour attitude when things don’t go the way we hope. Please help us to shun discontentment and embrace a relaxed outlook. Amen.