IT
IS YOUR ATTITUDE, NOT YOUR APTITUDE
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Once
there was an old and very wise man. Every day he would sit
outside a gas station in his rocking chair and wait to greet
motorists as they passed through his small town. On this
day, his granddaughter knelt down at the foot of his chair
and slowly passed the time with him.
As
they sat and watched the people come and go, a tall man
who surely had to be a tourist -- since they knew everyone
in the town -- began looking around as if he were checking
out the area for a place to live in.
The
stranger walked up and asked,” So what kind of town
is this that we're in?"
The older gentleman slowly turned to the man and replied,"
Well, what kind of town are you from?"
The
tourist said, “In the town I'm from everyone is very
critical of each other. The neighbours all gossip about
everyone, and it's a real negative place to live. I'm sure
glad to be leaving. It is not a very cheerful place."
The
man in the chair looked at the stranger and said,"
You know, that's just how this town is."
An
hour or so later a family that was also passing through
stopped for gas. The car slowly turned in and rolled to
a stop in front of where the older gentleman and his granddaughter
were sitting. The mother jumped out with two small children
and asked where the restrooms were. The man in the chair
pointed to a small, bent-up sign that was barely hanging
by one nail on the side of the door.
The
father stepped out of the car and also asked the man, “Is
this town a pretty good place to live in?"
The
man in the chair replied," What about the town you
are from? How is it?"
The
father looked at him and said, “Well, in the town
I'm from everyone is very close and always willing to lend
their neighbour a helping hand. There's always a hello and
thank you everywhere you go. I really hate to leave. I feel
almost like we are leaving family."
The
older gentlemen turned to the father and gave him a warm
smile.
"You know, that's a lot like this small town."
Then the family returned to the car, said their thank yous,
waved goodbye and drove away.
After
the family was in the distance, the granddaughter looked
up at her grandfather and asked, “Grandpa, how come
when the first man came into our town you told him it was
a terrible place to live in and when the family came in
to town you told them it was a wonderful place to live in?"
The grandfather lovingly looked down at this granddaughter's
wondering eyes and said, “No matter where you move,
you take your own attitude with you and that's what makes
it terrible or wonderful.”
It's
your attitude, not your aptitude that determines your altitude.
Happiness is not something you find, it's something you
create.