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You've heard the expression, "Attitude is everything." But can a positive mental attitude make all that much difference in your personal and professional life? Deborah Smith Pegues, author of the bestselling 30 Days to Taming Your Tongue, believes strongly that it can. In Choose Your Attitude, Change Your Life, Deborah explores the root causes of 30 negative attitudes, their impact on your life and relationships, and how you can learn to think positively instead. As a result, she helps you recognize and conquer counterproductive behaviors, such as criticizing the choices others make, being inflexible, and being indifferent to the needs of others. Deborah's handy guide uses Bible-based principles and practical strategies to point you toward the path to a better outlook on life, empowering you to display a positive mental attitude in every situation and leading to healthier relationships, personal growth, and the ability to handle life's challenges as never before. Previously titled 30 Days to a Great Attitude.

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Philosophie et théologie

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Publié par	Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
Date de parution	01 avril 2014
Nombre de lectures	2
EAN13	9780736958288
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0508€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Verses marked NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Verses marked NIV are from The Holy Bible, New International Version , NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Verses marked ESV are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Verses marked KJV are from the King James Version.
Cover design by Koechel Peterson Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota
Previously published under the title 30 Days to a Great Attitude
CHOOSE YOUR ATTITUDE, CHANGE YOUR LIFE
Copyright 2009 by Deborah Smith Pegues
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pegues, Deborah Smith, 1950-
[30 days to a great attitude]
Choose your attitude, change your life / Deborah Smith Pegues.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-7369-5827-1 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-5828-8 (eBook)
1. Attitude change-Religious aspects-Christianity. 2. Conduct of life. I. Title.
BV4597.2.P44 2014
248.4-dc23
2013015779
All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The authorized purchaser has been granted a nontransferable, nonexclusive, and noncommercial right to access and view this electronic publication, and purchaser agrees to do so only in accordance with the terms of use under which it was purchased or transmitted. Participation in or encouragement of piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of author s and publisher s rights is strictly prohibited.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to every reader who would dare commit to displaying the right attitude in every situation.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to all my friends-including cyber friends-who not only prayed for this project but also willingly shared their experiences and insights on the various attitudes discussed in this book.
I appreciate my entire Harvest House family for their flexibility and commitment to a quality product. Thanks especially to Bob Hawkins Jr., president, and Terry Glaspey, director of acquisitions, for always pushing me to the next level despite my protests. My editor, Rod Morris, is always a refreshing fount of wisdom as he hawks the spiritual integrity of all my biblical conclusions and assertions.
Finally, I m eternally grateful to my husband, Darnell, for his unselfish support, his willingness to sacrifice our time together, and for being the most loving and self-sufficient husband in the world.
Contents
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Prologue: Commit to Change
Attitudes to Choose
1. Choose to Connect
2. Choose to Let Go of Anger
3. Choose to Live Passionately
4. Choose to Build Others Up
5. Choose to Be Peaceable
6. Choose to Value Others Opinions
7. Choose to Love Correction
8. Choose to Value Others
9. Choose Healthy Expectations
10. Choose to Believe God Is in Control
11. Choose to Be Pleasant
12. Choose to Think Positively of Others
13. Choose to Be Patient
14. Choose to Be Happy for Other s Good Fortune
15. Choose to Walk in Humility
16. Choose Tolerance
17. Choose to Embrace Racial Equality
18. Choose Flexibility
19. Choose to Serve with Gladness
20. Choose to Avoid Sarcasm
21. Choose to Leave Revenge to God
22. Choose to Resist Scarcity Thinking
23. Choose Not to Judge Others
24. Choose to Be Amiable
25. Choose to Reject Helplessness
26. Choose to Be an Optimist
27. Choose to Submit to Authority
28. Choose to Focus on the Needs of Others
29. Choose to Pursue Excellence
30. Choose to Relinquish Control
Epilogue: Your Attitude, Your Choice
Endnotes
Appendix 1: Famous Attitude Quotes
Appendix 2: Scriptures for Maintaining a Great Attitude
How to Contact the Author
Other Books by Deborah Smith Pegues
Prologue:
Commit to Change
Alice, I understand you were suspended from school today. What happened? Ann quizzed her niece.
My teacher disrespected me, and when people disrespect me, that s what they re going to get back from me, Alice said.
Although only eleven years old, Alice s attitude was already entrenched. How had she developed such a mindset? Ann knew that Alice was merely repeating her grandmother s mantra: People who don t respect you don t deserve your respect.
Yes, our attitude programming starts early in life. We often learn the most destructive ones from our parents, grandparents, or other authority figures we trust implicitly but who often see themselves as victims of life s inequities. Unfortunately, Granny failed to tell Alice that such an attitude would sabotage her relationship with her teachers, other people, and her career even though it seemed eons away. Besides her grandmother, Alice s attitude will be shaped by how others respond to her, her friends, the books she reads, her job, and several other factors. Every single day she will have to decide how to frame and respond to the inevitable negative experiences of life.
That s what this book is about. It is not a pep talk on maintaining a positive attitude. Volumes of good books have already been written on that. I will not subject you to another think positively general approach to the subject. Rather, I will explore 30 specific attitudes that can make or break our personal and professional relationships. For each one discussed, I will provide practical guidelines on how you can integrate it into your daily interactions. If you need a more exhaustive treatment of a particular attitude, be proactive and search the Internet and your local library for other resources.
In this book, you will meet modern-day and biblical examples of people who did or did not model the right attitude in their responses to given situations. From intolerance to an attitude of entitlement to a controlling attitude, I will show you how to conquer them all using Scripture-based principles, thought-provoking questions, healing prayers and affirmations, and practical strategies to put into action immediately. While the strategies are simple and doable, they may not always be easy. I will be painfully transparent as I share the various wrong attitudes that challenge me even to this day-despite the fact that I have had good spiritual leaders and mentors and have invested many years in Bible study learning God s way of living life to the fullest.
Yes, like me, you may know the way to victory. Unfortunately knowledge is not the single key to success. We have to commit to change-beginning with a change in our thinking and the emotions that we choose to attach to our thoughts about the inevitable negative situations we encounter. Dr. Caroline Leaf, author and learning specialist, summed it up this way: Behavior starts with a thought. Thoughts stimulate emotions which then result in attitude and finally produce behavior. This symphony of electrochemical reactions in the body affects the way we think and feel physically. Therefore, toxic thoughts produce toxic emotions, which produce toxic attitudes, resulting in toxic behaviors. 1 Thoughts. Emotions. Attitude. Behavior. Yes, we can control every step of the process.
I finally understand that my attitude determines whether I will be mediocre or excellent, anxious or calm, intolerant or accepting, or whether I exhibit a host of other mindsets that will affect the quality of my life. Since the choice is mine, I ve decided to choose wholeness in every aspect of my life-relationally, emotionally, financially, physically, and spiritually.
I invite you to join me on my attitude journey. My hope is that we will learn to display the right attitude in every situation and to be the shining light that dispels the darkness in a negative world.
Day 1
Choose to Connect
Each of us comes into this world alone and we will leave alone. However, God never intended for any man to become an island unto himself. Shortly after He created Adam, God acknowledged that His work was not yet complete. And the L ORD God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him (Genesis 2:18). So, He created Eve. While some like to cite this passage to convince single men to get married, the reality is that regardless of our gender or marital status, we were all created to be in meaningful relationships with other people. If you study the life of Jesus, you will find that He was very sociable and often attended weddings, dinners, and other social events.
The phrase one another appears 142 times in the New King James Version. It is clearly God s divine plan that we connect and communicate with other people in a mutually beneficial, satisfying, and productive way. To behave otherwise is counter to God s purpose for His creation. And it is our responsibility to take the initiative in connecting with others. A man who has friends must himself be friendly (Proverbs 18:24).
To be aloof or emotionally detached is detrimental not only to your personal life but also to your career or business. In some professions, an aloof attitude can spell the death of a relationship. Have you ever been to a doctor or other medical service provider who treated you with cold indifference? Were you eager to see him again? What ju