Attitude—Mike Ritchie
Mike Ritchie ’90, director of alumni relations
It was a pleasant surprise, recently, when my kids had their first day of school in September.
With COVID-19 wreaking havoc on everyone’s lives and bringing an abrupt end to the last school year, this one was highly anticipated. This first day brought energy and excitement to my daughter beginning her senior year, another daughter starting her junior year, and my son beginning first grade.
They all were awake early that day and unusually lively, unlike many other ordinary days. I would say they all had a great attitude toward starting the new school year.
This made me think about the whole notion of attitudes. Our attitude these days may be more important than ever. We can very easily find ourselves feeling disappointed, down, or even angry with all of the negativity surrounding us: a pandemic, racial unrest, and political turbulence—just to name a few. How we approach each day—and more importantly, approach others we encounter—can have a profound impact. We typically think of attitude as a way of thinking or feeling about someone or something.
But, it is much more than that.
Our attitude influences all of our actions. We often do not give enough thought to our attitude, how it affects us, and how it affects others. Winston Churchill once said that attitude is a small thing that makes a big difference.
Charles Swindoll, the evangelical preacher, author, and educator, put it best:
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is that we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change the past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.
We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you…we are in charge of our attitudes.
This is worth repeating: We are in charge of our attitudes! I admit, I sometimes find it a struggle to be positive. Let us be the examples of what a positive attitude is and how impactful we can be. One of the many reasons I love being on this campus is the abundance of so many positive attitudes. I consider myself very fortunate to be among such great examples on this campus every day!
Mike Ritchie ’90, is the director of alumni relations.