My dad always told me that life is all about attitude... famous quotes such as Brian Tracy's "You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you," or Winston Churchill saying "The optimist sees opportunity in every danger; the pessimist sees danger in every opportunity," were common to me growing up and have also helped to develop a unique attitude towards life.
I'm currently visiting Houston, TX... This is my fourth year visiting this place, and I always leave thinking "maaan, these Texans have attitude." Most people I see in the streets or stores are not soft spoken, dress however they want, and laugh loud and hard wherever they want. "Everything is bigger and better in Texas people say," well I do see that mentality reflected in a lot of Texans by the way they interact with each other.
However, attitude goes way beyond and above than simply not caring too much about what others think about you. Your attitude is what gets you through the day... it influences the way you view others, and it certainly influences others around you as well. Our attitudes shape our personalities, and they impact greatly the way we live our lives.
Today I got an e-mail from my dad, saying that he is proud of me for being where I am today. He said that my attitude towards many things has definitely helped me to reach this point today... but even more than that, I would say that I stand where I stand because of my faith. If we agree that our attitudes shape our behaviors, then I'll have to add that our faith shape our attitudes.
This faith is what gets me up every morning and what guards my dreams every night. Without this faith I would not have done half of the things I've done in life... but sometimes it does not matter so much what we do, but instead what matters most is who we do it for.