Never Is Determined By Our Attitude: Discovering The Word Never

Understanding The Attitude of Never

“Never, never, never give up.” Was a speech that Winston Churchill gave at his boyhood school one October and was passed on to me as a very young child by my mother. And surprisingly it stuck! At first I was very intrigued by the repeat of those first words. Why did he keep saying ‘never’? But it wasn’t until I was well into adulthood that those repeats sunk into my understanding. And I discovered that the meaning of my Never was determined by my attitude.

Changing My Attitude About Never

Never is a hard word. It’s firm. Strong. And very certain. It feels like solidness. And rightly so! Because when we make up our mind to the point of using the word ‘never,’ that is when things begin to change for us. Never is not a phase. Never is not conditional. It is tenacious and steadfast! Never is determined by our attitude.

And I think about my life and the many times I have loosely use this word ‘never.’ And I also think of the times I’ve firmly meant that word. With my entire being! My attitude behind that word is what changed it from a wish to an action word. Just my attitude! And that attitude changed my life!

The first day I said “never” with full determination and resolve, was the day I began to realize how powerful that one five lettered word was! I could accomplish my goals and dreams with that word! I could move forward! And thrive! All determined my attitude.

So I began practicing it out loud. First in small things, like “I will never stay up so late on a work night again!” Yes, that’s a hard one for night-owl like me. But the results that always come the next day are enough to make me stick to that promise I made to myself! No more dragging through my work day and being only half productive with a grumpy mood. I found I could give more to my family and friends also. All because of that one little word. Another way I claimed the word ‘never,’ was when I made up my mind to never take my children for granted! I realized that they are a priceless gift. But I also realized that it doesn’t take long to forget and be too busy with my own agenda.

Using The Word Never Intentionally

I became intentional and used that ‘never’ word out loud. I spoke my goal of “never letting unimportant issues and other people rob me of this precious gift of their childhood moments.” And then there’s those hard situations, when you hold the hand of your friend going thru a painful valley in their life. You view the situation and say “I will never allow myself to be abused in that way!” Only to find yourself headed in the same direction several years later. Then the moment comes when your ‘never’ takes a firm stand and helps you make the right choices for yourself. And our never is determined by our attitude. . .

Of course there’s the eye-rolling, exasperated moment when we finally make the firm promise to never let the gas run below the 20 mile mark. Made after way too many wishful attempts at saying the word. Yes, sometimes a firm attitude behind that word ‘never’ takes awhile to firm-up! But when it does. . . look out! How many times have I said, “I will never pass a certain weight on those scales!” Yet after a few weeks of faithful exercising, my ‘never’ got soft and excuses slipped in. And the stuffed-crust meat lovers pizza slyly changed it to a wish instead of a promise. My list and your’s could go on. Both the serious and the silly. But that word is in so many of our actions!

Sometimes using ‘never’ comes easily. We simply make up our minds and it happens. But then there’s the times that it takes sacrifice and resourcefulness to stick with it. Those are the important times. The times that we are building firmness for future situations, when we must stick with our promise no matter what!