***Use Your Attitude to Create a Triumphant Life

One day back in 1997 my phone rang. It was Dr. Arthur Caliandro, the head minister of Marble Collegiate Church in New York. Dr. Caliandro asked me if I would be interested in writing his next book with him. We met, we hit it off beautifully, and I ended up writing not one, but two books with this wonderful gentleman.nnWhen he called, he did not know that I already knew a thing or two about him. I had worked briefly at his church in the early 1980s, where I had watched him at work in the year after he took over the pulpit from the legendary Dr. Norman Vincent Peale.nnLooking back, I had to say that Dr. Caliandro's first year at the helm of one of New York's most important churches was not the easiest of beginnings. (I later learned that he agreed completely with that assessment.) Just after he was picked to lead the church that was the birthplace of positive thinking, he suffered a health crisis and underwent bypass surgery.nnAs he was recovering, he became so depressed that he required some psychotherapy to get his leadership back on track. Some members of his church saw that as a weakness on his part and told him so. Apparently, people in his line of work were not supposed to need psychotherapy.nnIt was not an auspicious beginning. But that was nearly 15 years before Dr. Caliandro called about his writing project. During those years, he had clearly gotten his leadership back on track. He had rebuilt his life and had come to be known as one of America's most influential spiritual leaders.nnWe began working together. Week after week I sat in Dr. Caliandro's study, discussing his ideas. I also spent many hours reading and listening to the sermons he had delivered over the years. Through it all, a question was running through my mind. How had Dr. Caliandro emerged triumphant from that difficult beginning and gotten his success back on track?nnHis writings and talks provide many answers to that question. But this principle seems to be at the bedrock of them all: Your attitude is your future.nnOther people can determine where you live, what you do every day, how much you earn, and countless other conditions of your life. But your attitude is different. It is the one thing that no one else can determine for you. Where your attitude is concerned, you are in complete control. And when you choose a winning attitude, you create a winning future. Even in a hospital bed, or in any kind of difficult situation, you can keep your attitude so positive that it leads you on to triumph.nnDr. Caliandro tells many stories about people who began triumphant lives on the day they chose a positive attitude over a negative one. There is the story of a concentration camp survivor who, on the day she was liberated, saw that she had two choices: she could choose to be unhappy for the rest of her life, allowing her captors to continue to destroy her; or she could chose to be happy. She went on to create a triumphant life. He also tells the story of a young woman, born into abject poverty, who refused to believe that the world was anything other than a wonderful, wonderful place. Her attitude created a life of achievement for her.nnDr. Caliandro has collected hundreds of stories of success. But the real question is, what will your story be? Make it a great one. Change your life today by claiming a great attitude and all things will be possible for you.