by Dortell Williams
Some time ago, I got a call to the dentist’s of ce. I wasn’t expecting a call; I had no problems or complaints. But when staff calls, you know you gotta go check it out. So I went in there and there they were: the dentist and two assistants. Nothing unusual about that. The odd thing was that they were all smiling- and looking at me! Now you know that’s weird, at least on this side of the wall. To be polite, I smiled likewise.
The shorter nurse with glasses said I looked confused, but maintained her Mickey Mouse smile. So I responded, “Well, you all are really smiling in here, and coming from the darkness of the yard, it’s like something out of the Twilight Zone.” They laughed.
The taller one, with the model-face features says, in a happy tone of a game show host, “You’ll be 50-ttttttyyy pretty soon! That means we’ll see you eveeeeery yeaaar!” (Under 50, it’s every two years). I thought the whole presentation was really odd, but it was funny and I will never forget it. But they weren’t nished.
“You have a really good attitude, Williams. We like you guys with good attitudes. Prison is hard on everyone and you make it easier.” My mouth dropped. I was so happy to be appreciated. You know how it is, most of the time people go out of their way to tear you down. Now I know I’ll never forget that day, even though it was some time ago.
What’s a trip is that it really does boil down to attitude. Attitude beats IQ. Attitude beats wealth. Attitude beats everything! Attitude is how you respond to life around you. If you’re rich and have a bad attitude, people will close the doors on you. If you’re smart, but have a negative attitude, people ain’t trying to hear you.
A good attitude will get you past the people who “act” like idiots around you. A positive attitude gets you through the most negative situations. The trick is to restrain your emotions, try not to complain and be patient as you ride through the turbulence. Look for the good in bad situations; look for the lesson in a negative experience, but most of all, when you get through it, celebrate that you survived! It’s all about looking at the glass half full, not half empty. It is a choice. Another thing I use to help me see the positive in the bad, is that it could always be worse. A lot of times it is worse for someone else.
When I have the u, I know someone else in the world is suffering from cancer. When I am treated unfairly, I think about people in the holocaust or slavery. Whatever I go through, nothing can be as bad as that! When I broke my leg, I felt bad watching everyone else play basketball and I couldn’t. Then I reminded myself that my broken leg was just temporary, but what about that soldier that lost her legs defending my rights? I choose to look at the glass half full, not half empty. It really is all about attitude.