“The Greatest Discovery”
By Bruce J. Stewart
Is your attitude an asset or a liability?
The word asset is defined as “a useful or valuable thing, person, or quality.” Based on the popularity of self-help books, many people, perhaps most people, view their attitude as a flexible and malleable aspect of their being.
William James, known as the “Father of American Psychology,” wrote in 1890, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind.” Let’s take William James’s statement a step further by proposing that, to change your life, you must begin by changing your attitude.
A person’s thoughts lead to actions. What thoughts can lead to positive action that will change the outcome of a person’s life?
During my time as an English teacher at an urban middle school, I met teachers, staff, and students with profoundly different attitudes. For example, harmful circumstances beyond a student’s control defined their resiliency. In the face of extreme adverse conditions of a chaotic home life, many students endured through an attitude of gratitude. They were grateful for the safety and security of the school environment. They were grateful for the compassion and kindness of many teachers and staff. These students appreciated the daily small acts of a kindness, such as a word of encouragement, or a smile, or a snack. By experiencing their gratitude, I learned their resiliency was accompanied by an irrepressible and positive attitude.
I have heard it said that “gratitude is the memory of the heart.” It’s only when we give something from our heart without any expectation of gaining something in return that we are rewarded. The custodian who meticulously cleaned my classroom every evening, who cleaned the restrooms, and made sure the hallway floor was shiny, told me his work was an act of gratitude. “I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the students’ education. The students are always very kind to me,” he said. “It makes me want to do the best job I can.”
The root word of custodian is from the Latin, custos, meaning guardian. As an educator, my responsibility is also custodial. I often ask myself if my attitude reflects the obligation to work to the best of my ability like the custodian who cleans each classroom; or like many of my students who overcame significant hardship. What I do know however, is that an attitude of gratitude keeps me living in the present moment. And when I am fully present to my students, my gratitude is the asset that serves them best.