Governor Art's Corner
by Gov. Art Riley

Charles Swindoll, a noted radio preacher and current pastor at the Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, is an inspirtational writer that I have often consulted. Today I would like to share some of his thoughts on attitude.

"Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our attitude toward life. The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it."

"I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me or say about me, my circumstances, or my position. Attitude keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope. When my attitudes are right, there's no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me"

Think of the difference a positive attitude can make. In member recruitment, a prospective member is much more likely to join a club that consistently demonstrates positive accomplishments and a "can do" attitude. As efforts are made to build new Kiwanis Clubs the image of a successful club making positive changes in a community and improving services to children will attract charter members much quicker than negative examples. Of course it is our responsibility to show our service leadership programs the importance of a positive attitude. The Rev. Norman Vincent Peale spent a majority of his professional life illustrating the needs for positive thinking and the benefits this brings to a person's well being.

I started thinking of how important attitude is as I recently witnessed two examples. In one instance I have had the opportunity to watch a Kiwanis leader who consistently projects optimism and a similar leader who did not exhibit optimism. There may have been other factors, but the results were obvious. Within the two similar spheres of influence one group was developing new projects, attracting new members, building a new club and having great fun as a group. The other, however, was having trouble attracting attendees at meetings, not demonstrating new projects, and in general showed no enthusiasm. Think about Kiwanis Clubs and other groups you encounter. Don't the groups that are positive attract more energetic members?

The other example I encountered was a young high school student who inherited a troubled life from birth. In short, much of her life was filled with adversity and turmoil. She could have rejected life and decided that all the cards were "stacked against her" and approached the world with a negative attitude. But somewhere during her formative years someone convinced her that a positive approach was the best alternative. The result is a mature young woman that will receive many awards and scholarships during her college career. I do not doubt that much of her success is yet to come.

As we advance through Kiwanis, I encourage each Kiwanian and Kiwanis Club to develop positive ways to promote all aspects of Kiwanis. Keith Harrell has written a book entitled Attitude is Everything. If Kiwanis adopts a positive attitude and philosophy our service and membership will grow.