zalena | Attitude Adjustment

I have been told all my life that I need an attitude adjustment. In some cases this has been true, but in other cases a bad attitude is a symptom that something is wrong: I'm not being challenged or treated fairly, there are inappropriate systemic pressures, expectations are not in line with time/abilities.

I think it's interesting that "a good attitude" is something frequently expected of subordinates, including children and females. No one tells the CEO of a company to adjust his attitude. That tells me that there is something hierarchical about mood expectations, and that the lower in the hierarchy one is, the more one is expected to "grin and bear it."

If we got ahead in this world by being intelligent, hard working, or having a good attitude, I wouldn't be where I am now. Obviously those things are only a tiny piece of a much greater picture. One of the few things I can call my own is my attitude. It's something that no one else can control.

Of course, this definitely begs the question "Do you control your attitude, or does your attitude control you?" Not to mention how sensitive one is to the events that push one's emotional state one way or another.

I'm not writing this in response to any particular situation, (I posted it in the comments section of

coraa's journal.) I just thought it was an important enough observation to include here.