Give each letter of the alphabet a number, a=1, b=2, etc. If you add up the letters of the alphabet in the word "Attitude" this is the result: A = 1 T = 20 T = 20 I = 9 T = 20 U = 21 D = 4 E = 5 ----- Attitude is 100%

Whether you think you can or not, you are right.

At one point during a game, the coach said to one of his young players, "Do you understand what cooperation is and what a teamwork is all about?" The little boy nodded in the affirmative. "Do you understand that what really matters is not whether we win or lose, but that we play together as a team?" The little boy nodded yes. "Good," the coach continued. "And, when a strike is called, or you're thrown out at first, you don't argue, curse, attack the umpire with a bat, or throw dirt in the opposing team members face. Do you understand all that?" Again the little boy nodded, "Well, sure, coach. That's what you taught us." "Good," said the coach. "Now, please go over there and explain all that to your mother."

When Joe Paterno first began coaching the Penn State Nittany Lions, they got off to a dismal start. During his second year (1967), he noticed that his starting players were just going through the motions, playing without commitment or intensity. He also noticed that the sophomore replacements played with enthusiasm. Paterno realized the time had come to prove himself as a coach. He made a decision to "get rid of the sluggards." During the next game against Miami, he replaced each going-through-the-motion senior with an eager sophomore. By the end of the first quarter he had a whole new team on the field. They played with such intensity that Penn State upset the highly favored Hurricanes. That season, the Nittany Lions began a winning streak that continued for 31 games-it didn't end until after all the "Sophomore Wonders" had graduated. Paterno proved himself as a coach, and his young players proved to everyone that enthusiasm is a team's greatest weapon.

"According to neuroscientist Ian Robertson of Trinity College, Dublin, in his engaging new book Mind Sculpture (Fromm International, 2000), mental practica can actually increase real world perfomance. Case in point: When people who mentally practiced a five-finger piano exercise (in other words, they never touched the piano) were compared with those who physically practiced, both groups showed improvements in accuracy."

What would you do if you knew you were about to lose your sight? Travel? Read? Probably take a very close look at the world around you. Stanley Wainapel did those things. He also learned to play the piano. But most importantly, he decided to become a doctor. Now blind, Dr. Wainapel “sees” hundreds of patients in a busy Bronx hospital. The CNN Story: http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/03/18/onedoctor.sview.ap/index.html

One of the great psychological discoveries of the past century is that your thoughts control your actions. If you want to change the way you act, you must first change how you think. Actually, thousands of years ago, Solomon pointed this out when he wrote, "Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts." (Prov.4:23, GN) The Bible says our thoughts influence six areas of our lives: MY INTERPRETATION INFLUENCES MY SITUATION It's not what happens to me that matters as much as how I choose to see it. The way I react will determine whether the circumstance makes me better or bitter. I can view everything as an obstacle or an opportunity for growth - a stumbling block or a stepping stone. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:2-4, NIV) MY IMPRESSIONS INFLUENCE MY DEPRESSIONS In other words, my mind affects my moods, my thinking determines my feelings. If I'm feeling depressed, it's because I'm choosing to think depressing thoughts - about my work, family, or anything else. While you cannot always control a feeling, you CAN choose what you think about - which will control how you feel. "Hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught..." (Psalm 55:2, NIV) MY BELIEFS INFLUENCE MY BEHAVIOR We always act according to our beliefs - even when those ideas are false. For instance, as a child, if you believed a shadow in your bedroom at night was a monster, your body reacted in fear (adrenaline, sweat, etc.) even though it wasn't true. That's why it's so important to make sure you are operating on true information! Your convictions about yourself, about life, and about God influence your conduct. "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples." (John 8:31, NIV) MY SELF-TALK INFLUENCES MY SELF-ESTEEM You are constantly talking to yourself unconsciously. When you walk into a room full of strangers, what do you tend to think about yourself? To develop more confidence you're going to have to stop running yourself down! "As he thinks in his heart, so is he." (Proverbs 23:7, NKJV) MY ATTITUDE INFLUENCES MY ABILITY Winners expect to win. Your perception controls your performance. Mohammed Ali only lost two fights in his career. Before both of them, he said something that he hadn't said before other fights: "If I should lose this fight ...." "All things are possible to him who believes." (Mark 9:23, NKJV) MY IMAGINATION INFLUENCES MY ASPIRATION In other words, your dreams determine your destiny. To accomplish anything, you must first have a mission, a goal, a hope, a vision. "Without a vision the people perish." (Proverbs 29:18)

Dear Cecil: I've heard from all sorts of places that it takes 43 muscles to frown and only 17 to smile (the numbers vary), but I can tell you from experience that spending half an hour grinning is a lot more tiring than half an hour of not smiling, which is pretty much the same as frowning. Is the whole idea bogus? --Ella, via the Internet Cecil replies: I've been hearing this for years. Supposedly it takes fewer muscles to smile than to frown; ergo, you should smile. Happiness, it seems, is the lazy person's emotion. Time to put this platitude to rest. I arrived at the following detailed accounting of the relevant muscles with the aid of David H. Song, MD, FACS, plastic surgeon and assistant professor at the University of Chicago Hospitals. Song, among other things, reconstructs faces--in short, he ought to know. My apologies if this list seems obsessive, but we're going to settle this once and for all. Caveat: Deciding which of the 53 facial muscles are important in smiling or frowning is a bit arbitrary--many make only minor contributions, and depending on the intensity of the expression may not be involved at all. I've listed here the ones Song feels are important, as corroborated by other sources. Muscles involved in a "zygomatic" (i.e., genuine) smile: Zygomaticus major and minor. These muscles pull up the corners of the mouth. They're bilateral (one set on either side of the face). Total number of muscles: 4. Orbicularis oculi. One of these muscles encircles each eye and causes crinkling. Total: 2. Levator labii superioris. Pulls up corner of lip and nose. Bilateral. Total: 2. Levator anguli oris. Also helps elevate angle of mouth. Bilateral. Total: 2. Risorius. Pulls corner of mouth to the side. Bilateral. Total: 2. Grand total for smiling: 12. Principal muscles involved in a frown: Orbicularis oculi (again). Total: 2. Platysma. Pulls down lips and wrinkles skin of lower face. Bilateral (though joined at midline). Total: 2. Corrugator supercilii (bilateral) and procerus (unilateral). Furrow brow. Total: 3. Orbicularis oris. Encircles mouth; purses lips. Unilateral. Total: 1. Mentalis. Depresses lower lip. Unilateral. Total: 1. Depressor anguli oris. Pulls corner of mouth down. Bilateral. Total: 2. Grand total for frowning: 11. Despite the fact that smiling uses more muscles, Song believes it takes less effort than frowning--people tend to smile more frequently, so the relevant muscles are in better shape. You may feel this conclusion assumes a rosier view of the human condition than the facts warrant, but I defer to the doctor. Incidentally, a superficial, homecoming-queen smile requires little more than the two risorius muscles. So if your goal in expressing emotion is really to minimize effort, go for insincere.

What you believe changes how you perceive your circumstances. Two people in exactly the same circumstances can draw diametrically opposed conclusions. That's the difference between cats and dogs. A dog looks at you and says, "You feed me, you take care of me, you pet me. You must be God!" A cat, on the other hand, looks at you and says, "You feed me, you take care of me, you pet me. I must be God!"

The greatest discovery of my generation is that men can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. -- William James

Cheerful people resist disease better than glum ones. In other words, the surly bird catches the germ. -- Hope Health Letter, 4/96