“Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.” – Wayne Dyer
Whichever of the two we are, we all know the differences. There are those at home and at work that are up first thing in the morning, no matter how late they were up the night before. And they are usually upbeat and optimistic, eager to get the day started. Others seem to always be running late, tired, and behind. Stressed and pessimistic would sum up their attitude most days.
Some researchers say that we need to learn to maximize our natural settings so that morning people have things to do in the morning and night people have things to keep them occupied in the late afternoon or evening. Others say that night people need to learn to be morning people so that everyone can work together to accomplish the tasks of the day. Most of the researchers taking this view are probably morning people.
It should also be noted that most of the time, since opposites do attract, morning people marry night people. In such relationships the morning person usually tries to get the night person up and going bright and early, especially on their days off together. And the night person wishes that their significant other could stay up late and enjoy the solitude and quietness of the night. It is rare indeed that people actually change, but compromise is possible.
While things like our internal clock are simply a part of who we are we need to be reminded from time to time that our attitude is not genetic. Our outlook and general disposition may be something we are born with, but our day to day attitude and the way we relate to other people is truly a decision we make. It is a matter of the will.
We have the ability, if we choose to use it, to change the way we think and feel. Our minds are a powerful tool. What we think will affect how we feel, what we say, and what we do and how well we do it. The trick is that we have to apply ourselves.
As the quote above tells us, at times we find ourselves miserable. We are not happy with circumstances at home or at work. Things seem out of whack and we wonder what the people around us are thinking, if they are thinking at all. When we are miserable we usually try to find fault with others and can even give a detailed list of what it is that has us out of sorts – and if those things (or people) just changed then things would be better.
However, living with this kind of outlook allows other people to decide how we feel. Why should people around us, who may be miserable themselves, be allowed to tell us how to feel and think and act? And yet they do when we allow them to. We react to their negativity and we become negative. On one hand we can be miserable, but on the other hand we can decide to motivate change in our own attitude. We can take responsibility and make up our minds that no matter how the people around us feel, act, or think, we will determine for ourselves what kind of day we will have.
Is this even possible? Can we deal with stress and irritation and difficult people and still have a good day? Yes, it is possible. Because how we respond to others is very much within our control. If we allow ourselves to be mired down in the negativity we will feel and act negative. But if we choose to respond positively then we can maintain a healthy attitude even when others around us are falling apart.
We need to see that we can transform our attitudes and our day to day lives by being ready to respond instead of react. If we react instinctively we may end up acting like a night person who is ready to strangle that morning person who thinks we should be as bright-eyed and bushy tailed as they are early in the morning. If however, we take the time to respond, we can think through what we are about to say or do, and we can maximize the positive potential to stand above the turmoil and make clear headed, good decisions.
The most difficult part of this though is that often we believe that it takes other people to motivate us. Too often that external motivation comes in the form of negative ideas, fear, or threats. The reality is that the most powerful motivation we can find is the motivation that comes from within, from our own minds as we decide what we want and how we can get it. At times we have to come to realize that we cannot let others think for us. We need to think for ourselves. And as we apply ourselves we will be able to motivate ourselves to achieve more than we ever dreamed.
True satisfaction is found when we decide to have a right attitude and motivate ourselves to reach our goals. It is the kind of satisfaction that once experienced becomes a motivation of its own for then we see how much more we can do if we only put our minds to it.
By the Way Communications 