I took this one behind my parents’ house. I love the incongruity of the dainty flowers flourishing amid the hardy cacti.

As we were sitting in a meeting waiting for someone to return the other day, Kevin pointed out a photocopied quotation thumb-tacked to a board. It’s by Charles (Chuck) Swindoll.

“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 we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our 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 one 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.”

Imagine people reading this, taking it to heart, and actually acting on it. The world could be changed for the better in an instant.

It brings out some points that I try to instill in my students and my own kids, advice that I’m always giving myself, as well:

• You don’t always have control over where you are, but you can choose to make the best of it. Bloom where you’re planted.
• The only person you can change is you. Be the change you want to see.
• Don’t spend too much time looking back. Reflect on what happened, learn from your successes and mistakes, and move on. Don’t let your past alone define you. You are who you choose to be.

I also really like the analogy of the “one string” we have to play. If our attitude is our string, our instrument, then with it …

• You can blow everyone else out of the room, or you can tone down to a pleasing volume, so they can actually enjoy what they hear.
• You can be loud and proud, blocking others from being heard, or you can be team players, contributing to the overall composition.
• You can play so low nobody can hear just in case, or you can do your very best, defeating that nasty old insecurity (for this battle, anyway).
• You can lay down your instrument and sit out altogether because you messed up last week or last month or year or decade, or you can determine to do your very best this time, regardless.

We make choices every second of every day. Think about it.