Today when I was at church, the homily was about how people’s attitudes affect everyone around them. Throughout my life, I have observed the way attitudes around me have affected my own attitude.

Just the other day, I was at Robert’s soccer match. I was sitting by myself on the bench when a couple of refs sat next to me. The entire game, all they did was complain about how the members of the teams had been complaining to them all day about the calls they were making. They bad mouthed Robert’s team and the team they were playing. They talked about how they know so much more about soccer than the players did.

By the end of the game, I was in a pretty bad mood (and I also had half a mind to walk into the soccer center’s management office and let them know how unprofessional their refs are). Because I had sat next to them complaining, a little bit of it had rubbed off on me, putting me in a grouchy mood.

The opposite of this also works. Sometimes, I might be feeling under the weather, but a friend of mine might cheer me up with their happy mood. It’s hard to be in a bad mood when people who care about you are happy.

Lately, I’ve been focusing on how to change my world view. Most of the time, I just try to stay out of situations where people are going to put me in a bad mood. If I can’t stay out, I might try to change the subject to something a bit happier.

And if I’m feeling like I’m in a bad mood, I try to remember that I shouldn’t try to bring others down with me. Sometimes things are better if you just look at them from a different angle. And if things aren’t better, maybe it’s time to do something about it.