I have been told on more than one occasion that I have an “attitude” (and yes one gentleman actually used air quotes to emphasis his point). At the time he meant it as a criticism, as if me voicing my own opinion was a bad thing. I remember that I disagreed with his perspective and he then predicted that my attitude would get me nowhere fast. Looking back I have to thank him for making me more mad than I already was. It made me fight more, work harder and turn my attitude into something people wanted in their leader. My “attitude“ eventually became one of my greatest strengths.
When I read these words from Marilyn Monroe I thought differently about having an attitude:
STRONG WOMEN don’t have “attitudes”, we have standards.
-Marilyn Monroe 1962
This quote reminded me that an “attitude” is nothing more than standards…standards which are usually higher than the person using the air quotes. People need to know where we stand, how we get things done, and what we expect in their final product. Once they know, it is up to them to live up to our standards or choose to fall short. We all have the power to give our all, live in a world of high standards, or we can deliver whatever is available and suffer the consequences.
I have two more posts to write which will include two more pieces of my art to hit my goal of one thousand. When I started the first year, people thought I was crazy. I thought I was crazy. Eventually it became a habit and the second year flew by quickly. When I posted that I would work towards one thousand original pieces of art that number seemed daunting. There were many times I thought about stopping, then I remembered the air quotes conversation and realized my standards are not ones on which I want to quit. Call it attitude, call it stubbornness, call it whatever you want. Without high standards we doom ourselves to live a life of mediocrity. Only two more left, so stay tuned…
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