I once knew a man who regularly came to work on Monday morning proclaiming, “Boy, it was a lousy weekend! It was sunny and I had to mow my lawn.” Or if it had been a rainy weekend he would say, “Boy, it was a lousy weekend! It was rainy and I couldn’t mow my lawn.” You see, it didn’t matter what had happened over the weekend — his interpretation of the events was going to be negative. You probably know this person, or someone like him.
Our beliefs and attitudes about the world greatly color how we interpret the events around us, and our interpretation has a pronounced impact upon our health. Negative, inflexible ways of perceiving the world lead to “hardening of the attitudes,” a disease that is much more deadly than hardening of the arteries. Hardening of the attitudes is contagious. It seems that people with such attitudes want to share. It is dramatic to tell everyone how bad everything is. And people will listen to the bad news as we have learned from reading the newspaper and the evening news.
But people will also listen to Good News . . .
Remember to be good to you!
It’s the Truth!
Copyright © 2013 by Gary L. Flegal, Ph.D.
•Dr. Gary Flegal is a Behavioral Medicine and Health Specialist with a doctorate in “Health Education and Human Performance” from Michigan State University. He is an exciting and accomplished presenter and keynote speaker, presenting seminars for groups and companies on location and at conventions. His advanced training in stress management came to him while working in affiliation with the original Mind/Body Medical Institute at Harvard under the direction of Herbert Benson, M.D. and his staff. In addition to corporate presentations, Dr. Flegal keeps a busy schedule working with individual clients for a variety of stress-related issues, including anger management, quitting smoking, learning to relax and manage stress, and learning self-hypnosis.
Dr. Flegal’s other passion is magic. He has been a professional magician for over 30 years and continues practicing his art at every opportunity. These two passions work together beautifully as he illustrates stress management concepts with fun, visual, and “magical” demonstrations in his stress management workshops and seminars. It also allows him to share stress management with his magic audiences wherever he goes because “Laughter is the Best Medicine!” Gary is a Reiki Master and a Certified Consulting Hypnotist, certified by the National Guild of Hypnotists.
Dr. Flegal’s specialties include stress management, anger management, positive behavior change, insomnia, smoking cessation, and exercise physiology. For individual appointments, speaking engagements, or more information, contact Gary at Professional Stress Management Services in Nashville, Tennessee, at (615)812-7280 or through his Web site: www.GaryFlegal.com.
Gary L. Flegal, Ph.D. 
Nice article. It is so easy to get swallowed up in your own negativity or the negativity of others!
Posted by Abi | February 18, 2013, 2:22 pmThanks for taking a moment to post a reply. Blessings to you.
Posted by Dr. Gary Flegal | February 18, 2013, 2:29 pm. . Thank you. I enjoyed your post.
. . We may have to get a good attitude.
. . ♡ MuFillyou 022
Posted by Brent Oh | February 18, 2013, 4:20 pmBrent – I am continually working on getting “a good attitude” as you say. Thanks for your comments.
Posted by Dr. Gary Flegal | February 18, 2013, 4:22 pmI really enjoyed this article. I’m especially mindful of this in my children – the old saying whether you think you can or you think you can’t – you’re right. If you think you are going to have a spectacular day – a spectacular day often shows up!
Posted by kathywilson | February 22, 2013, 5:12 amYes – this excellent quote, attributed to Henry Ford, has a great deal of truth. Outside circumstances have much less to do with how we perceive life than what we determine for ourselves – our internal truth! “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t–you’re right.”
Posted by Dr. Gary Flegal | February 22, 2013, 9:11 amHi again. Don’t suppose you have any great ideas for instilling this in children? Seems to me at least some of their attitude to life is hardwired. One of my sons is certain every day will be awesome – the other has a tendency to see things the other way (he’s still gorgeous – just a slightly different attitude). I would love to encourage him to expect the best but don’t really know how?
Posted by kathywilson | February 22, 2013, 2:52 pmHello Kathy. You are right – each person, even children, has their own way of looking at life. And I won’t pretend to have any magic answers. However, you have the opportunity to influence his outlook on life and the world just by being you and letting your son observe your life. You have the on-going ability to talk with him about positive things that happen and to point them out to him. Just like other people, your son will . . . “listen to Good News” . . .
Posted by Dr. Gary Flegal | February 22, 2013, 3:47 pmThanks Gary – this does help!
Posted by kathywilson | February 24, 2013, 7:25 pm