A man named Christian joined

the Army and was issued his dog-tag. It noted his blood type, Rh factor

and name. It read, "A negative Christian." Do you know any of

those folks? Some folks always look at the dark side and see a dark cloud

in every silver lining. They see difficulties in every opportunity.

Many people are like the little

boy who came home from school and told his dad, "Dad, I think I failed

my math test." The dad said, "Come on, Son, think positive."

The son replied, "OK,

Dad, I'm positive I failed my math test."

At least he was confident.

One of the greatest qualities possessed by successful people is a positive

spirit. There have always been two ways to look at life, but successful

people discipline themselves to focus on the positive. The negative is

always going to be there. There will always be challenges and obstacles

to overcome in any worthwhile endeavor.

However, we see what we train

our eyes to see. Focusing on the positive takes discipline. We don't deny

nor ignore the negatives. They're part of the landscape that determines

how we plan. But neither do we dwell there.

I heard about grandparents

who had the grandchildren over the weekend and decided to take an afternoon

drive together. As they explored a new road, they noticed a sign that

said, "natural park." So they entered the natural park and expected

to see things like nature trails, wild flowers and lots of birds. But

as they drove through, they were met by a group of "naturalists"

riding bikes without a stitch of clothing on. The kids looked at those

people and their eyes nearly popped out of their heads. Guess what they

said: "Look, they're not wearing their safety helmets."

Why did they say that? It had

been drilled into them that when you get on your bike, you have to wear

your helmet. We see what we train ourselves to see. Why don't we discipline

ourselves to see the positive?

Successful people also have

a positive attitude. Attitude makes all the difference in the world. Someone

defined attitude as an "inward feeling expressed by behavior."

Our attitude is the primary force that determines whether we succeed or

fail. It reveals what's really in our hearts and where our focus lies.

I heard about some kids who

played a trick on dear ol' dad. Dad was asleep in his favorite recliner.

One of the kids took some limburger cheese on his moustache. Soon he woke

up sniffing: "Boy, this room stinks." And he went into the kitchen

and declared, "man, the kitchen stinks." He went outside to

get fresh air, but to his surprise, there was no relief there, either."

Then he gave up and said, "The

whole world stinks!" If we have a poor attitude, the whole world

stinks.

Successful people keep pressing

forward. They never quit. There are times when looking back is proper

and positive. We learn great lessons from past experiences and then move

on. There are other events and experiences that are best forgotten and

we really do need to move on.

We feel like Linus in the Peanuts

comic strip who said, "Maybe we should think only about today."

Charlie Brown said, "No,

that's giving up. I'm still hoping yesterday will get better." We

can't change what happened yesterday, but we can do our best to make today

great.

Finally, successful people

look for ways to keep improving their lives. David Glass, CEO of Wal-Mart

Stores, was once asked whom he admired most, and he said Wal-Mart found

Sam Walton. "There's never been a day in his life since I've known

him that he didn't improve in some way." Never stop growing. What

do you need to improve in your life this year? What specific steps do

you need to take right now to improve your life?

(Dr. David L. Chancey is pastor,

McDonough Road Baptist Church, Fayetteville, Georgia. The church family

meets at 352 McDonough Road and invites you to join them for Bible study

at 9:45 a.m. and worship at 10:55 a.m. every Sunday).

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