PMA or PMS?

 When I was in jr. high school I remember my stepdad dropping me off in front of the school as all my peers were rushing by before school started.  He would smile and say, "Have a good day!"

I always hoped that this would be the end of our encounter, but then, just as I was approaching my very cool and popular group of friends, he would yell, "remember PMA not PMS!"  And he was usually still in his pajamas.  It would take weeks to recover.

As a teenager with a reputation to uphold, I never quite got over that public display of humiliation and vowed NEVER to be such an embarrassment to my children when they were my age.
However, I only remember that story now because it was my motivation for yelling the same thing to my daughter Kaylee when I dropped her off for school everyday last year.  Much funnier when you are the yeller of this phrase rather than the receiver.

I never did understand at the time why my parents joked that I had PMS instead of PMA, and it really irritated me...I understand it perfectly now.  As funny as it sounds, I often think to myself on days that are not going my way, "Jheri, PMA or PMS?" So thank you Dean for giving me (and the rest of the school) that food for thought message that has carried with me as an adult.  I now consider the difference before I make any life altering decisions.

Positive Mental Attitude:

A psychological term which describes a mental phenomenon in which the central idea is that one can increase achievement through optimistic thought processes. ...

 

Dale Carnegie said: 

Happiness doesn't depend on any external conditions, it is governed by our mental attitude.

 

 

A great deal of happiness comes from conquering our fears and finding success in who we are.  We need faith in our own ability to achieve something great.  That something that will define who we were meant to be.  There is so much power in the vision we create for ourselves.

As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.-Henry David Thoreau

Having a positive mental attitude requires one to train themselves to have positive thinking.  Positive thinking is a discipline that trains the human mind to change a perceived reality...if we can change our reality through our thoughts then we change anything about ourselves that we so wish.  Even our desire to change.