Attitude is often mistaken for how we feel. In reality, attitude is better defined as how we perceive and behave because of how we feel. Imagine showing up to lunch at school to find you have no money for food and you didn’t pack a lunch. It would be easy to let a circumstance like that ruin your attitude for the rest of the day. You might find yourself complaining about hunger, moping through the halls because you’re tired from not eating. You can’t control feeling tired or hungry, but you can control your attitude about them.

Think of attitude like posture but for your heart. A grateful heart is like good posture, and an ungrateful heart is like slouching. Good posture increases confidence and keeps our muscles from getting weak, while slouching negatively affects confidence and hurts our bodies over time. When I’m grateful, I can encourage myself and the people around me. When I’m ungrateful, I complain and discourage others.
An ungrateful attitude looks at the lunch situation and says, “I missed lunch. I’ll starve.” But a grateful attitude looks at that situation and says, “I only missed lunch. I know I’ll eat again today.” Choosing to be grateful in hard situations strengthens your heart the same way standing up straight while tired strengthens your body!