“We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play the one string we have, and that is our attitude.”   This very true statement was spoken by Chuck Swindoll as he reflected on his career of preaching the Christian doctrine, which allowed him to meet many different kinds of people.  He said that in all of the things he has learned it is how the way people treat their circumstances that helps or hurts them.  Just as a rollercoaster has its ups and downs, so does our lives, we are constantly riding the rollercoaster of life up and down through the good and bad.  We have the option of enduring, and perhaps even enjoying, the bad if we can look at it through the lens of a good attitude.  As a very simple example think of a cold shower.  When I was younger and would be the unlucky person to be the last in my house to take a shower, the hot water had inevitably run out.  Instead of throwing a fit and pouting, I would imagine myself swimming up to a waterfall and taking a shower under the cold cataract.  I ended up taking a longer shower than intended and my day was inescapably more adventurous and enjoyable.  Today, I cannot always bring myself to enjoy the shock of the cold water as I try to rinse my hair as quickly as possible, but the idea still holds; the happier I am going through the down days, the happier I am basking in the light of the up days. 

In a University of Michigan study researchers asked one group of people to find one good thing in themselves each day for thirty days,  they asked a second group to find one bad thing about themselves each day for also thirty days, and they asked a third group to find one good thing in someone else each day for thirty days.  At the end of the study researchers found that both of the groups that had focused on the good attributes of themselves or others were almost 50% more productive at work, exercised  an average of 3 hours more in a week, and said that they were happier and more comfortable in their own skin than those who had focused on the bad traits of themselves. 

As I evaluated the meaning of this information I was reminded of a learning experience that I had here at AMES.  Because of the amazing opportunities that The Academy has given me, I was allowed to take the University of Utah general chemistry class.  This class took a lot out of me both physically and mentally and I was not as prepared for it as I had assumed.  I learned a lot about my limits, how I act under pressure, and to never judge a class by it‘s name, but as far as the actual chemistry aspect I realized that I remember the lessons from the first and last quarters better than I do the two middle quarters.  I have determined that my attitude played a large role in how I retained the information. In the first quarter I was excited and highly motivated to do well, when I realized how much work the class actually took in the second term I was discouraged, and almost gave up completely in the third when the fact that it wouldn’t be getting any easier came to my attention.  By the fourth quarter I decided that I needed to stop taking myself so seriously and just enjoy the learning experiences, and it was to my great satisfaction that my grade improved and my outlook on life bettered. 

My dearest friends and fellow seniors, think of this day, how excited you are to be graduating, how happy we all are that we have made it through high school.  Remember these feelings so that on the challenging days that await us all we can bolster our frame of mind and enjoy all that we do, even if it’s taking out the trash.  We must enjoy the sunshiny days, so that when the stormy days come rumbling in we’ll have a tan to remember what we have had.   I know that if we work hard and have a good attitude, we will achieve any goal.  Winston Churchill once said, “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference
(Winston Churchill)

The Sun shines, and warms and lights us and we have no curiosity to know why this is so; but we ask the reason of all evil, of pain, of hunger, and mosquitos and silly people.
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)