It’s super cheesy. I know.

But it also happens to be absolutely true: The simplest thing, the attitude in my head, completely changes how I see the street I walk on, the sky above me, the people I meet, and the hope I feel.

I took these shots with my iPhone last month on Commercial Street in North Sydney. I’d been thinking about this idea for a while, and I may yet take images like it with a better quality camera and make the images more creative and fun.

But the idea, of course, is simple, and can be snapped with an iPhone: the only thing that changes in the two shots is me and my attitude. (Do you like my grumpy face? LOL.)

It’s something I forget all the time. And then remind myself of, over and over. And over and over I practice changing my attitude, and am always rewarded by feeling happier, by feeling more hopeful, by seeing beauty and opportunity for growth where before I saw decay, disrepair and sadness.

This doesn’t mean that attitude is all that has to change. Of course. An attitude shift doesn’t immediately get rid of poverty, drug abuse, crime, indifference and illness. But it does help me see that alongside all of those things, we as people and as a community have so much goodness, too. And that is one of the tools we need to continue to make positive change happen.

I hope you have a great Friday! And I’d love to know: is changing your attitude harder than it sounds? Or do you just generally need to be reminded? Let me know!