I saw this story the other day and I thought about you... Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save her.." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?" Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her. You see, understanding and attitude, after all, is everything.
This is one of the Five Great Lessons that someone wrote about on their blog. Understanding and attitude really are everything. Having a good attitude and the right understanding are paramount no matter where we find ourselves or what we are doing. Life will constantly throw us curve balls and there is nothing we can do about it. What we do have control over is how we react to these curve balls. It can be cliche or sophomoric to say, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade" but that doesn't make it untrue. What we think and what we say are very important but what you think matters most. Understanding and attitude are not always in the things we say or do, but just like in Aikido it doesn't so much matter what we do when someone strikes, but it matters more how we react to it inside hence understanding and attitude are everything.
