Do Over - by Kim Metzer

In this season of graduations I’ve been thinking a lot about fresh starts.  Graduating from school is a chance to turn the page and begin a new chapter in life.  I sincerely hope that the dozen or so young people from Redeemer that recently graduated from DeWitt, or another area school, and the two young women very close to me who recently graduated from college, make the most of this opportunity for fresh starts.

A favorite author of mine, Jon Acuff, has a new book out – Do Over – which is all about reinventing yourself and not getting stuck.  In chapter 2 he talks about one of the “walls” that prevent people from having a successful “Do Over”.  That wall is your attitude and what he says about it applies just as much to new chapters in life as to the “Do Overs” that are the focus of his book.

“…I didn’t say, “Change your attitude.” That could take years. Choosing it, though, takes a handful of seconds. Tomorrow at work, choose to have a good attitude. Choose not to be cynical. Choose not to act like you’re doing them a favor by showing up. Choose not to complain. Choose to cheer for the accomplishments of your coworkers. Choose to treat customers like superstars.

Choose your attitude every day until eventually it chooses you right back. It’s not about feeling happy or feeling committed to your work or feeling like a good employee. Feelings are the flightiest things in the world, held to the whimsy of a thousand factors. .. Don’t listen to feelings. Make choices. Today, choose a good attitude.”

This choosing of attitude should apply to all areas of our lives, not just in the workplace.  How much more peaceful would the world be if we all just chose to have a good attitude?  As Paul reminds us in Romans 14:17-19, having a good attitude is the way to live in a manner pleasing to God:

For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up.

I will be trying to CHOOSE to have a good attitude each day.  Who’s with me?