Whenever you are in conflict with someone, there in one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is Attitude. Attitudes are fascinating psychological constructs that shape how we perceive, feel about, and respond to everything around us.

There’s got to be more to life than this … there’s got to be more than this misery and unhappiness.

You are not what you think you are. But what you think — YOU ARE! — Dr. Norman Vincent Peale.

Think of attitude as the mental filter through which you experience the world. Some people see the world through the filter of optimism (the glass being half full) while others see life through a filter of pessimism (the glass being half empty). For instance, A person with a negative attitude thinks “I can’t”. A person with a positive attitude thinks “I can”. Attitude determines on dealing with problems and solutions. Rather than dwelling on problems, a positively inclined person would concentrate on solutions. Do not see limitations, look at possibilities. Understand this, your attitude is your window to the world.

Our job is to keep the window clean. The dirt on the window is formed by criticism, rejection, disappointments, and also doubts. The problem is, that the dirt keeps building up, and all too many people do nothing about it. When we continue to go through life with a filthy window, we tend to lose our enthusiasm, we get frustrated and depressed, and most tragically, we give up on your dreams — all because we failed to clean our attitude window. But what we need to understand is that no one else will clean that window. We always have the choice – either to leave the window dirty, or to clean it and see everything clearly.

What happens when we have our windshield all swamped in dirt and grime. However, the moment we use the window washer everything clears up. We will suddenly see the outside world through our windshield brighter and sunnier, and we will be happier.

Granted, some really devastating things may have happened to you. You may have endured much suffering. Perhaps you’re going through some tough times right now, but even under the worst circumstances, I still contend that you have the power to choose your attitude. I’m not saying it’s easy, but the fact remains, the choice is yours.

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedom— to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances. To end with the famous Charlie Chaplain Quote, “Nothing is permanent in our lives, not even our problems”.