Handling transformation with a positive attitude

Lt Col Luis A. Rojas — Sat, 23 Nov 2013 13:51:14 -0500

Hello Everyone;

I would like to share an article I wrote for the base paper about 7-years ago. I believe it can be applied to today's environment of uncertainty. Enjoy!

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He endured more than his share of misery
during his lifetime. He grew up dirt poor and started working ten-hour days by
age seven. Life didn't get easier when he became an adult. At age 22 - he
failed in business, age 24 - he failed again in business, age 26 - his beloved
fiancée died, age 27 - suffered a nervous breakdown, age 29, 31, 34, 39, 46, 47
and 49 - he lost various elections. While serving as President, he agonized
over the Civil War ... endured a bad marriage to a hysterical woman who nearly
spent him into bankruptcy ... and suffered endlessly when his favorite son died
before his 10th birthday. Yet despite numerous personal and professional
setbacks, he was generally a positive, upbeat man who loved to swap anecdotes
and tell jokes at every opportunity. When asked how he remained so cheerful in
the face of constant adversity, Lincoln replied, "It's been my observation
that people are just about as happy as they make their minds to be." -
"Lincoln on Leadership" by Donald Phillips

It is very important to understand as Lincoln did it
is not necessarily the circumstances that determine whether we are happy or
sad, a success or a failure. It is up to us how we choose to react to those circumstances.

I'm sure all of you have heard the saying there is
always a positive side to everything or things happen for a reason. The book
"With Winning in Mind" by Lanny Bassham states: "Your mind can
only concentrate on one thing at a time. If you are picturing something
positive in your mind, it is impossible, at the same time, to picture something
negative. If you have a negative thought, you can not, at the same time, think
positively." What this means is that we constantly need to remind ourselves
to think positively and handle each adversity the best way possible.

At times life presents us with situations or
circumstances that we have little-to-no control over. All we can do is make the
best of each and every situation by having a positive attitude. A perfect
example of this is our Air Force careers. As a young ROTC cadet, my instructors
said the needs of the Air Force always come first. I have found this to be very
true, and it falls in line with our second core value: Service before Self.

Right now, our Air Force is going through a
transformation. Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne has said
transformation will be funded through the reduction of legacy systems and
manpower while sustaining GWOT and ongoing operations in support of the Joint
Fight.

All of us in one way or another will be affected by
personnel cuts. Individuals will be directly affected through the career job
reservation process, force shaping, voluntary separation, limited active-duty
service commitment waivers, and early retirement boards.

Overall, we should keep a positive attitude and focus
on the things we have control over rather than the things we don't. For
example, the best advice I can give the people who will leave the Air Force is
to take control of their futures by ensuring they are aware of all the benefits
offered for transition from the Air Force into civilian life.

While we have no control over the fact that the Air
Force will cut personnel, we can control how we do business day to day by
finding ways to be more efficient.

Remember what President Lincoln said: we are just as
happy as we allow ourselves to be.

Response by SFC James Baber made Dec 13 at 2013 8:57 AM

SFC James Baber — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 08:57:05 -0500

Informative and interesting, thank you for sharing it. We are currently not as happy as we would like to allow our selves to be.