Have Some Attitude

On one of my recent neighbourhood walks I met Happy and a man with some attitude.

What struck me about this man was his positive, fun attitude. As our dogs met each other briefly the man told me about his ten year old dog. He named him Happy because the man received the dog on his birthday which was on New Year's Day. He thought it would be the best name for the dog as it reflected a "happy day" in more ways than one. I thought this example of attitude was priceless because the man's attitude was very uplifting.

Since then, I looked up the word attitude, and depending on which dictionary is used, attitude generally means "a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings and values and dispositions to act in certain ways."

This means that it is all up to us; it is up to us to have the attitude that we can accomplish what we want. I once had a co-worker who had a lapel pin that read "attitude". She picked it up at a workshop that focused on having a positive attitude towards anything we do. Often when we hear someone has attitude we think of a "bad" or negative attitude. But, this is not always the case.

When I hear about the stories in rural communities and how amazing activities and changes are happening I know it is because of people's attitudes. Rural communities already have a unique make-up and culture of their own, so having attitude to reflect that is not surprising. The "can-do" attitude has kept many rural communities alive and focused on the values that hold them together. With many influences affecting rural communities the attitude does shift a bit, but it still comes down to the values reflected in rural communities that hold them together.

Attitude is a good thing to have. When people have an attitude of collaboration, breaking down barriers, and focusing on the aspirations of the communities then we have communities that thrive.

I believe it is known that a postive attitude is contagious. If that is true, then the attitudes of positive community building is really spreading in rural Alberta.