I have had to do a lot of mental work to disconnect the concept of my attitude from the things that happen to me. I had a nasty habit of subconsciously believing that everything that happens to me, I somehow deserve because of something I did or because of some impure thought I was thinking or something. It took me a while to truly believe that shit just happens sometimes and it doesn’t mean it’s some kind of punishment for having a bad attitude.
I hate the belief that a good attitude will get you anywhere. While it’s certainly not productive to have a BAD attitude and I understand that, the implication is that when life shits all over a person, it must be their own fault because bad stuff doesn’t happen to people who have good attitudes, you know. It’s such a common theme in kids’ books and movies, you know, everything turns out okay for the good guy and the bad guy gets what he deserves, and it’s all well and good to tell kids that everything will be okay as long as they’re good people, but I have to wonder if the kid with terminal leukemia thinks, “this must be happening to me because I’m a bad person.”
I guess I haven’t really answered your question directly. Yes, my attitude is important because if you just look for the bad in every situation, you’re liable to find it (and the reverse is true too) but I vehemently disagree with the idea that your attitude determines everything, like what is touted in the book The Secret. It’s just offensive. Oh yeah, I could have cured my disease by thinking positively, why didn’t I think of that?