My favorite episode of Rod Serling's Twilight Zone is the one where the horse racing jockey gets beat up by some thug outside of the jockey's home. The jockey, having been pummeled by the thug, is both depressed and irate. He clenches his fists and screams up to the Gods, "I WANNA BE BIG!!! YOU HEAR ME??? I WANNA BE BIG!!!!". Eventually his anger subsides and turns solely into depression, and the poor jockey lays down on his bed and falls asleep.
A few hours later, this pitiful soul is suddenly awakened by a phone ringing on his nightstand and he quickly jumps up to answer it. Fortunately - or unfortunately, depending on your point of view - he hits his head on the beam of the ceiling of his bedroom. In pain from the blow to his head, he answers the phone - it is his agent calling to tell him that he has arranged a great horse for the jockey to ride in the upcoming Kentucky Derby, by any measure, the goal and thrill of a jockey's life. The jockey jumps up again in joy, exclaiming, "Yes!!!! I can't believe it!! Oh my God, life is great!". But when he jumps up yet again, he hits his head on the ceiling beam a second time, only to realize he has been granted his previous wish - he is big! REAL BIG. Too big, in fact, to be a jockey!
Suddenly, the jock has a new problem - he can't ride in the race of his life - the Kentucky Derby. In a fit of anger, he screams, I wanna be small!!! I wanna be small!!! He breaks down, sobbing at his misfortune. And then that mysterious Twilight Zone music comes on and Rod Serling appears and says something like, "The case of the jockey that was too big to ride in the race of his life and too little to know how good he had it...be careful what you wish for - in the fifth dimension of the Twilight Zone." Fade out music: do do, do do, do do, do do.....
Look, we all think things can be better. And they most certainly can be. But by and large, we make do with what we have and we are pretty fortunate to be in the positions we are in. Things could be a LOT worse. Sure, you should set goals to for a better life and better circumstances, but I guarantee this on my grave, if you live your life thinking your life sucks, well, it does suck!
You have to take stock of your attitude! Your attitude and point of view are everything! You need to focus on your fortunes rather than the bad luck or mistakes. And most importantly, rather than considering how disadvantaged you are, you should consider how you can turn your disadvantages around and make them advantages.
My oldest brother, David, while I was at the Coast Guard Academy undergoing a state of anger and depression because I was lamenting how I could have even dared to undergo the rigors, challenges, and restrictions of attendance at a U.S. service academy, wrote to me and told me something that changed my life. He wrote, "At some point, and you can't be sure when, but at some point, all disadvantages can be turned into advantages....just look for the advantages and be ready to use them." It was exactly then that I began looking at my seemingly bad situation and I started thinking, "Ok, things have not gone well...how can I turn them around?" It was exactly then that I learned that attitude is everything.
"How can I turn a bad situation into a good one?" Asking this very question almost automatically turns things around for me and if you ask the question, you too will turn things around. Again, ask yourself how you can turn a seemingly disadvantageous situation into an advantageous one. If you think about it with resolve and an open mind, you will find your answer within minutes. Your attitude will change. Your mood will change. Your energy will rise to the occasion!
Attitude is everything. If yours is good, you will be successful and happy. If yours is bad, well, you will be depressed, angry, even ill. If you take this post seriously, you can enrich your life from this minute on. Come on, now - let's go for a ride - but for this post, let's take that ride not on the bus of El Entrenador, but rather, on our mount in the Kentucky Derby. Riders up!!! ATTITUDE BY A NOSE!
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