Good Attitude

Click to download as a PDF

Props (stuff you need to bring)

A potato. An egg. A cup of coffee, or a bag of coffee or preferably some kind of coffee maker. You’ll also want to bring some disposable cups or other cups if you make the coffee – see below….

If you can, bring a kettle, some filter coffee. Boil up the water and make the coffee during the assembly. 

You can even offer the coffee to people but make sure you add in some cold water so people don’t burn their mouths. Make sure the cup is nowhere near full.

Choosing to have a Good Attitude

Have you ever wondered about successful people and how they succeed? There are often lots of factors but one of the factors is how they react to what happens to them. You can have two people who have the same things bad happen to them. One of them will come out stronger and better, the other person may feel upset or angry or shoved down. The difference is the attitude and how people respond to what happens.

As one person said – you can’t always choose what happens to you. But you can choose what happens in you. You can also choose what happens through you! The way we react isn’t just set. It’s not true that you can’t help it. In fact we can choose how we react very often.

Here’s an example of how we can choose to react

You’re at home and your really annoying old lady neighbour comes round again. She never wants anything and can’t remember she’s already come round earlier in the day. You’re home alone and can see it’s her so you choose not to go to the door.

Then one of your family or someone who cares for you comes home. They’ve got their key but can’t be bothered to get it out so they ring the bell. You’re busy watching TV so get annoyed with them for not using their key as you open the door, complaining to them.

A third person comes to the door. You’re annoyed about being disturbed again and look to see who it is. This time it is someone you really like and really fancy. They’ve knocked on your door wanting to see you. You know what, it’s quite likely you’ll happily go and open the door and speak to them. Any bad attitudes or anger quickly goes away as you put on your best face!

We can choose how we react!

Start to make the coffee

If you choose to make the coffee, a good time to do it is during the video below.

Video – duration: 3mins 51secs

Direct Video Link – https://youtu.be/GVw1Raxk8f0

If link breaks, search for – Potatoes Eggs And Coffee Beans Story.

Potatoes, Eggs and Coffee Beans Story

Story

Can be found here – http://www.moralstories.org/struggles-of-our-life/ (accessed January 2019)

The summary of the story (to recap) is that there is a potato, an egg and some coffee. All were boiled and left for 20mins. The potato went soft, the egg went hard but the coffee was unique… After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new. 

More than just creating something new, the coffee took what was there (the water) and changed it to something that was tasty, useful and enjoyable (well, for most people anyway!)

Offer some coffee

If you’ve made some coffee, offer it around to a couple of people, giving each person just a little sip. Make sure they like coffee and don’t have any allergies. You may need someone to assist with this!

Thoughts

Life happens around us. Some things are good, some things are bad. We’d all like things to go well for us! But whatever happens, it’s good to react in the right way. If good things happen, it’s good to react well and not get arrogant. If bad things happen, we can choose to let that affect us positively. We sometimes get broken and all soft and crushed by events around. Or some people get very hardened as they try to protect themselves from getting hurt again. 

But we can choose not to be under the circumstances of life, but be over them. This means we keep a positive attitude, keep on going, allow ourselves to grieve if there has been pain. But never shut off people and never stop pursuing good dreams.

There’s a story about an old donkey who wasn’t needed any more so the owners put him down a disused well. Then they kept on throwing rubbish, old food and all kinds down the well. But the donkey just kept standing on the stuff that was thrown down. In no time at all, the rubbish had built up so far and so high that the donkey was able to walk out of the well.

This is a good attitude – just step up on whatever life throws at you and go higher up! You can also use what happens to you to make a difference in the lives of others – just like the coffee…

What Jesus says and did

If you believe in God or whether you don’t, Jesus demonstrated a life where he had bad things happen to him. He was born in a barn with animals as a refugee. He then had to escape to another country. He was opposed by the political leaders and eventually crucified with nails through his hands and feet, had his beard pulled out, was beaten, tortured and had a crown of thorns pressed into his head. Yet he forgave those who had killed him.

Across the Bible and through the world today, with Christians as the most persecuted group in the world, you will find that time after time, those who are persecuted, tortured and abused, forgive those who hate them and show love instead of hate.

Jesus said these words to his followers – but the principles are good ones for everyone.

“No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”

Be someone who chooses a good attitude, keeps going and keeps doing good.