“Happiness” is high on the list of what everybody wants. Many people maintain they will be happy "when" - they get the new house, but they won't. Then they will be happy when they get it completely furnished - but they won't. They'll be happy when they have added the playroom, but they won't. Next, they'll be happy when the mortgage is paid off - but they won't. There are many people who will be happy "when" - they are able to take that vacation in Hawaii - but they won't, because it doesn't make any difference where you go, there you are.

A wise person once said that we teach people what we know, but we reproduce what we are. The prophet of long ago taught that the student is not above the teacher, but that the teacher has not taught until the student becomes as the teacher. Yet another person says that "people will not always believe what you say but they will always believe what you do.

Mary Kay Ash says that thousands of people have gone farther than they thought they could because somebody else thought they could. What that someone else did was to offer encouragement, which is the "fuel" of hope.

The question is, how often do you give someone a word of encouragement, a verbal thank-you or a simple little note that says "I genuinely appreciate your efforts - you're doing a beautiful job"? This little story told by Herm Albright adds this thought: "After watching a middle-aged waitress going about her business efficiently but with a smile for everyone, I decided to compliment her on her good humor.

What you do off the job ultimately plays a major role in how far you go on the job. Every athlete, singer, dancer, entertainer, outstanding attorney, physician, speaker, professor, etc., clearly understands this fact of life. When everyone, regardless of occupation, understands this basic fact, they will make more progress in their personal, family and professional lives.

A past issue of Psychology Today detailed a study of 1,139 CEOs of the Fortune 2,000 companies. Their average income was $356,000, which is not surprising. However, one thing that will surprise many people is to learn that these high achievers' number one priority was their family and their number one asset was their integrity.

In 1974 Digger Phelps, the Notre Dame basketball coach, was preparing his team to meet the perennial national champion UCLA Bruins in a basketball game.  UCLA was the overwhelming favorite.  The gamblers had "taken the game off the boards," because everyone knew Notre Dame did not have a chance.

Most parents experience the joy of watching their children turn over, then crawl, then stand up and then take those first steps.  With outstretched arms they stand two or three steps away and encourage the little one to come to them.  Chances are about three trillion to one that when the baby falls down the parent is not going to say, "O.k., you had your chance - you blew it!  So don't you ever try to walk again!"  That's absurd, but isn't it equally absurd to think we can accomplish major things in our lives without experiencing some reversals of some kind?  We all need to remember that failure is an event, not a person, that success is a process and not just an instant happening.

The first "tude" I want to talk about is "gratitude,"  because the more you express gratitude for what you have, the more you will have to express gratitude for.  It's equally true that you will never find a happy person who is not a grateful person, so gratitude is a marvelous place to start.