Attitude... A Daily Decision

Every morning, for as long as I can remember, upon rising, the first thing I say is “This is the day the Lord has made, and I, Remi will rejoice and be glad in it”. I say this without giving it much thought and go ahead to start my day, that was until I read Psalm 118 and more especially verse 24 with renewed understanding.

Amplified version reads: “This is the day which the Lord has brought about; we will rejoice and be glad in it."

Message Bible reads: "This is the very day God acted— let's celebrate and be festive!"

Contemporary English reads: "This day belongs to the LORD! Let's celebrate and be glad today"

I learnt that this verse is really about us making a decision to start each day with the right and positive attitude.

It is telling us that at the start of each day we should make a choice “to be glad and rejoice in it, afterall it is God that made the day and everything he makes is good” To have an “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” attitude.

To be glad means to: show or cause joy and pleasure; especially made happy

To rejoice means to: feel joyful; to be delighted

“Our attitude determines our altitude”

If we embrace a good attitude at start of each day, it’s safe to say that even if we don't accomplish that which we set out to, we would have gained altitude. We will be one stop closer to accomplishment than the previous day thus, one less failure to worry about.

For example, James Dyson, an English industrial designer had 5,127 failure attempts before he succeeded in creating the number one hoover in the world - the Dyson hoover. I envisage him waking up each day and saying "today, regardless of my failure of yesterday, I try again to make this creation work".

Developing a positive attitude and approach to life can be tough especially when things seem to go wrong all the time, but Proverbs 24: 16 encourages us that "Even if good people fall seven times, they will get back up. But when trouble strikes the wicked, hat's the end of them"

Through that verse, I also learnt that to develop a good and positive attitude we should:

• Reform our thoughts: Proverbs 23: 7 reads "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee". Are we always thinking it can’t be done? Then surely it won’t be. Are we always thinking, even though I fail, it can be done? Then guess what? It will be done. We should always put on a positive aura when we open our eyes to the beauty of a new morning.


• Know and visualise God's will: We should talk to God so that we understand his will for us and then take active steps as he directs, to walk in the confident assurance of it. In doing so, it will give us a positive outlook and take on life.


• Believe in our abilities: My daily charge to myself is “there are in impossibilities within my realities” What is yours? If You don’t have one, develop a positive and effective slogan that works for you. As children of God, we must confidently know and understand that, indeed, nothing is impossible.

• Be responsible: We must take personal responsibility for our life destiny. We cannot control people’s approach or response to situations but we can control ours. Decide and determine to have the right attitude to any situation or circumstance we find yourself in. For example if someone is confronting you about a certain issue and shouting rudely at you, you don’t have to respond the same way. Respond with an attitude that says "I will be calm and manage this situation positively and intelligently". We don’t need to look silly or dysfunctional as the next person that emits a bad attitude.

So, here I am today, encouraging us all to embrace a good and positive attitude as we wake up to unravel the gift of each day. We must embrace a good and positive attitude as we come to the conclusion of this year of new beginnings. Embrace a good and positive attitude in readiness to step into the New Year 2009; not forgetting to make God famous along your way.

Much Love
Remi Banjo

***Pictures by Photobucket & daily attitude.com***