"In game of life you can be up one moment and down next. The reason is not luck as in snakes and ladders, but attitudes you choose consciously or unconsciously." Your attitude will determine your entire outlook on life and how you see world- happy or sad, positive or negative. You can choose to see it through rose-coloured spectacles (the eternal optimist who is out of touch with reality). You can also see everything as dark clouds (the absolute pes- simist), or choose to see that every dark cloud has a silver lining, which is a good attitude to have. Well it's true anyway!

I am eternal optimist, out of touch, some say. Some people pick up doom and gloom portrayed by news- papers and media and transfer it to their own daily living. Attitude clouds verything that happens to you and how you react to situations, crises, etc.

Your attitude is your perception of an event- it is your reality. You may perceive a certain situation to be a disaster, while another person may see it differently, as a positive oppor- tunity for trying something new: e.g.. on redundancy or job loss or loss of a relationship.

As we have seen, one's attitude is closely related to your self-image and it is probably most critical factor in deter- mining how successful or how happy you will be in life. The inner attitude you have about yourself will determine your level of success far more than skills and training you have ever received.

1. YOUR ATTITUDE DETERMINES YOUR DESTINY

Personally, due to a traumatic event some years ago, my self-image was severely knocked, which impacted on my attitude for quite a length of time. This was passed onto my wife, who suffered a severe emotional crisis. Our neg- ative attitudes, together with extraneous circumstances, made life very difficult and stressful, leading to misjudge- ments, personal trauma and an inability to make decisions.

However, entirely on our own, we have lifted ourselves and bit by bit, regained our normal positive attitudes, which has enabled us to achieve wonders and a happy life- style.

2. THE FACTORY OF THE MIND

Your thoughts become your beliefs, and your thoughts determine whether "good" (positive), or "bad" (negative) messages are sent from brain to rest of your body. There is a complex relationship between mind and body. Physical disorders are caused by your state of mind. What you think can literally make you sick or healthy. The attitude you hold about yourself can give rise to feel- ings of joy, despair, anger, rage, etc. and can even cause heart disease, asthma, and ulcers known as psychosomatic illnesses).

Let's step BACK 100 years (or there abouts) and reflect on accomplishments of those who dared to dream. Most of these dreamers had to overcome incredible obstacles before their ideas would make it to world stage. But each and every one of these people have had an affect on your daily life.

10,000 Failures precede Success

Most famous people are known for just one great feat or discovery. Not so with Thomas Edison. He is personally responsible for over 1,000 patented inventions. Many of those discoveries have evolved into products that we take for granted as a part of our everyday lives. The most famous of course, is incandescent light bulb. This discovery/invention required 10,000 recorded experiments before Edison could use it.

Edison liked to make bold statements about his plans and then fulfill statement. His belief in himself was so strong that he publicly promised a minor invention every 10 days and a major "big trick" item every 6 months. History records that he lived up to his word.

Committed to an Asylum

Guglielmo Marconi believed that messages could be sent through air. This idea at time was so absurd to most people that at one point his friends had him committed to an asylum. His vision was clear enough, and strong enough to withstand ridicule and embarrassment. He KNEW that it could be done. On Dec 12, 1901 he finally was able to prove it to world. He had a telegrapher tap letter "S" from Cornwall England. Meanwhile, Marconi was 2700 kilometers away in St John's Newfoundland with his new receiver and kite antenna. With success of this experiment Radio and later TV were born.

Nobody Showed Up