Attitude: The Power We Choose Every Day

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life... The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.” — Charles Swindoll

During Women’s Month, I’ve been thinking about the power we carry as women, not just in what we do, but in how we choose to respond to the challenges we face.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in life started when I was still in high school.

Back then, I had a small business selling sweets and snacks to other students. I was proud of my hustle. It gave me a sense of purpose and a way to be independent. But not everyone saw it that way. 

Some of my classmates, people I considered friends, talked behind my back. They laughed at me, saying I was “too poor” because I was selling snacks at school. They never supported me, and instead, some of them even stole from me when I wasn’t looking.

I didn’t confront them. Not because I didn’t know, but because I understood something early on: they wanted me to feel small. They wanted to embarrass me. And I refused to give them that satisfaction.

I remember going on a school trip. My mom couldn’t give me money, but she packed me enough snacks for the whole day. While other kids had money to spend, I only had what my mom gave me. Some laughed. I felt the stares and the whispers. But at the end of that trip, those same people who laughed at me were helping themselves to my snacks to take home for their younger siblings.

That moment stuck with me. It taught me that attitude is everything. I couldn’t change how others treated me. I couldn’t stop them from judging or stealing. But what I could do, what I did do, was keep going.

“Life is ten percent what happens to me and ninety percent how I react to it.” — Charles Swindoll

Now that I’m older, I see how important it is to choose your attitude, especially as a woman. We deal with a lot. Pressure. Judgment. Expectations. But our real power lies in how we respond.

If I had let those moments break me, I would have missed out on the strength they gave me. I would have grown up thinking everyone around me was truly for me. But life showed me differently, and that lesson made me stronger.

To every woman reading this. You are stronger than you think. And when life gets hard, remember, you get to choose your attitude.

Choose courage.

Choose grace.

Choose to keep moving forward, even when others don’t understand your journey.

That’s the kind of power no one can take from you.