Word-Of-the-Week #1006: Disposition

November 16, 2023 by · Comments Off on Word-Of-the-Week #1006: Disposition 

Disposition one’s usual mood or frame of mind.

What would you say your usual mood is? Do you see the glass half-full or half-empty?

This week features excerpts from a couple of articles on Disposition.

  • From the Economist, “Sunny side up – Optimism, it seems, is in the genes.”

“For some people in this world, the glass always seems to be half-full. For others it is half-empty. But how someone comes to have a sunny disposition in the first place is an interesting question.

It has been known for a long time that optimists see the world selectively, mentally processing positive things while ignoring negative ones, and that this outlook helps determine their health and well-being. In recent years, it has also become clear that carriers of a particular version of a particular gene are at higher risk than others of depression and attempted suicide when they face traumatic events.”

And it turns out that some of us have genes that are biased towards positive images and away from negative ones. In other words, the optimists really do see the world differently. Amazing huh?

She goes on to say, “Rose-tinted spectacles may be good for one’s health, as these results fit in with wider ideas about how a tendency to look on the bright side of life is part of being resilient to stress. Those with short variants of this gene are expected to have an increased susceptibility to mood disorders following such stress. It is not all good news, though, for optimists. Because these results suggest that a person’s attitude to life is inherited, they serve as a stark warning to all buoyant optimists that trying to cheer the rest of the world up with nothing more than a smile and an effortlessly sunny disposition is doomed to failure.”

Do you ever consider how your disposition affects your available choices in life? Even more, how does your disposition impact your existing relationships, as well as the outcomes in your work or project efforts?

 Oh, and for the record: your disposition has to do with your usual mood and your tendencies to act or to think in a certain way.

Your Mindset – is connected to your words. Here’s how the mindset-to-words connection flows: when your established set of attitudes (your mindset) is left unchallenged, over a period of time you generally develop fixed beliefs, strong opinions, and patterned tendencies in your responses and behaviors. These impact your interactions with others about various subject matter, especially your responses and behaviors as reflected through your words. Therefore, your mindset becomes obvious to others through your words.

Here’s the Deal: Are you drawing amazing choices (people and situations) into your life, or do you repel them, through the reflection of your mindset?

  • And one more thought from LA Times writer Michelle Vartan about dealing with the winter blues. She writes, Be Mindful. Brain scans show that practicing gratitude can rewire our reticular activating system – the area of our mind that focuses on good versus bad. Once you wake up, instead of focusing on your to-do list, think of three things you’re grateful for, then get out of bed.”

This week’s focus is on your disposition. Personally I have always believed that your disposition is a choice and can be changed. Given that, would you keep the disposition you have? Have you figured out what is FUN for you? It just might change your disposition if you did it more!

I LOVE feedback! Join my Facebook community on my FUN-damentals Fan Page.

Word-Of-the-Week #745: Disposition

November 15, 2018 by · Comments Off on Word-Of-the-Week #745: Disposition 

Disposition one’s usual mood or frame of mind.

What would you say your usual mood is? Do you see the glass half-full or half-empty?

This week features excerpts from a couple of articles on Disposition.

From the Economist, “Sunny side up – Optimism, it seems, is in the genes.”

“For some people in this world, the glass always seems to be half-full. For others it is half-empty. But how someone comes to have a sunny disposition in the first place is an interesting question.

It has been known for a long time that optimists see the world selectively, mentally processing positive things while ignoring negative ones, and that this outlook helps determine their health and well-being. In recent years, it has also become clear that carriers of a particular version of a particular gene are at higher risk than others of depression and attempted suicide when they face traumatic events.”

And it turns out that some of us have genes that are biased towards positive images and away from negative ones. In other words, the optimists really do see the world differently. Amazing huh?

She goes on to say, “Rose-tinted spectacles may be good for one’s health, as these results fit in with wider ideas about how a tendency to look on the bright side of life is part of being resilient to stress. Those with short variants of this gene are expected to have an increased susceptibility to mood disorders following such stress. It is not all good news, though, for optimists. Because these results suggest that a person’s attitude to life is inherited, they serve as a stark warning to all buoyant optimists that trying to cheer the rest of the world up with nothing more than a smile and an effortlessly sunny disposition is doomed to failure.”

And this from Devaney Rae Jones “Is Your Disposition Repelling Your Choices?

Do you ever consider how your disposition affects your available choices in life? Even more, how does your disposition impact your existing relationships, as well as the outcomes in your work or project efforts?

 Oh, and for the record: your disposition has to do with your usual mood and your tendencies to act or to think in a certain way.

Your Mindset – is connected to your words. Here’s how the mindset-to-words connection flows: when your established set of attitudes (your mindset) is left unchallenged, over a period of time you generally develop fixed beliefs, strong opinions, and patterned tendencies in your responses and behaviors. These impact your interactions with others about various subject matter, especially your responses and behaviors as reflected through your words. Therefore, your mindset becomes obvious to others through your words.

Here’s the Deal: Are you drawing amazing choices (people and situations) into your life, or do you repel them, through the reflection of your mindset?

And one more thought from LA Times writer Michelle Vartan about dealing with the winter blues. She writes, Be Mindful. Brain scans show that practicing gratitude can rewire our reticular activating system – the area of our mind that focuses on good versus bad. Once you wake up, instead of focusing on your to-do list, think of three things you’re grateful for, then get out of bed.”

This week’s focus is on your disposition. Personally I have always believed that your disposition is a choice and can be changed. Given that, would you keep the disposition you have? Have you figured out what is FUN for you? It just might change your disposition if you did it more!

I LOVE feedback! Join my Facebook community on my FUN-damentals Fan Page.

WOW Word-Of-the-Week #302: Disposition

May 17, 2010 by · Comments Off on WOW Word-Of-the-Week #302: Disposition 

Disposition – one’s usual mood or frame of mind.

What is your usual mood? Would you say you have a happy disposition? Do you experience big mood swings? Would you like to be happier?

It seems that this is the hot topic of the year. I remember my mother saying, “I just want you to be happy,” from the time I was a small child.  Happy then was getting presents, getting to eat ice cream and candy, basically getting my way. (which didn’t happen very often)

Now I would say that my mood is pretty good most of the time. (hey, I’m not perfect and we all have our moments) What makes me happy now is having a love in my life, playing with my grand kids, and feeling content and complete with my life.

Robert Masello wrote an article for the Parade Magazine titled, “Make Happiness Happen.” In the first paragraph he told a story about being nice to the lady at the post office and wrote, “Being nice hadn’t only improved the clerk’s day, it made me feel pretty good too. The last year or two has been rough for nearly all of us. While there are a lot of things we can’t control, there is something we can do to make our lives more rewarding – and even happier. Cheap, easy and environmentally friendly, it might be called a ‘positive-attitude adjustment.’” (Have you heard me say that one before?)

Tal Ben-Shahar the author of “Happier” says, “Recent findings prove the brain is more flexible than we used to think. With practice, we can change our habits and even our natural disposition. Seek out positive distractors. Figure out what is fun for you, whether it’s watching movies or listening to music or going to a ball game – and then make sure you do it.”

This week focus on your natural disposition.  Do you have a positive frame of mind? What would your family, friends, guests, customers, members or clients say about your disposition? Also, make sure you have a least one “positive distractor” this week!