An older woman hired a painter to paint the walls of her home. As soon as the painter entered the house, she saw that her husband was blind and looked at her with pity. But the man was cheerful and optimistic, so for the few days the painter worked there, they had a good conversation, and the painter never mentioned the man’s defects.
When all the work was done, the painter took out the bill, and the old lady found that the price was a big discount from the one originally negotiated. She asked the painter, “How did you get so much less?”
The painter replied, “I feel very happy with your husband, and his attitude toward life makes me feel that my situation is not the worst. So the reduction is a small token of my gratitude to him for making me stop thinking of my work as too hard!”
The painter’s esteem for this wife’s husband brought tears to her eyes. For this generous painter himself had only one hand.
Attitudes are like magnets; whether our thoughts are positive or negative, we are pulled by them. And studies are like wheels that move us in a particular direction. Although we can’t change the course of our lives, we can change our outlook on life; although we can’t change our environment, we can change our state of mind.
