Attitude Is Contagious

Okay, you walk into a room where someone is laughing. You can’t help but smile in spite of the fact that you have absolutely no idea what’s so funny. That’s because attitude is contagious.

Your attitude can even be contagious to you. If you’ve ever made the conscious decision to choose your attitude, you know what I mean.

Check out this well-known parable. My friend, Doug, sent it out in an email a few years ago. I think it shows how our own attitudes can be contagious and “reflected” back at us:

The House of 1000 Mirrors – a Japanese Folktale

Long ago in a small, far away village, there was place known as the House of 1000 Mirrors. A small, happy little dog learned of this place and decided to visit.

When he arrived, he bounced happily up the stairs to the doorway of the house. He looked through the doorway with his ears lifted high and his tail wagging as fast as it could. To his great surprise, he found himself staring at 1000 other happy little dogs with their tails wagging just as fast as his. He smiled a great smile, and was answered with 1000 great smiles just as warm and friendly. As he left the House, he thought to himself, “This is a wonderful place. I will come back and visit it often.”

In this same village, another little dog, who was not quite as happy as the first one, decided to visit the house. He slowly climbed the stairs and hung his head low as he looked into the door. When he saw the 1000 unfriendly looking dogs staring back at him, he growled at them and was horrified to see 1000 little dogs growling back at him. As he left, he thought to himself, “That is a horrible place, and I will never go back there again.”

Whatever attitude you have affects whom you attract to your life. If you surround yourself with negative people, complainers who never have a good day, then you might very well find yourself joining in the negativity. If you surround yourself with positive people, you will attract positive experiences. As in the Japanese folktale, whatever attitude you choose will be reflected back to you. That’s because attitude is contagious.