I guess all work is leisure time to me.—Violet Hensley

The attitude a person cultivates is solely an individual matter. Money doesn't determine it. We have all known wealthy, resentful people. Health doesn't determine it either. Nary a one of us hasn't met a disabled man or woman who still encounters the day wearing a smile. Deciding to feel blessed, thus content with life, comes from our interior spaces. We do reflect to others whatever we feel within.

What kind of people are we? The good news is that whoever we have been doesn't need to limit us anymore. We aren't committed to being depressed or fearful or angry unless we have given our power over to that emotion. And even if we have, we can take it back and be serene and hopeful instead.

I am in charge of my perspective today, like every day. Beginning with a prayer for peace will help me attain it.

For a good part of my life, I saw things mostly in negative terms. Everything was serious, heavy, or just plain awful. Perhaps now I can truly change my attitude, searching out the winners in The Program who have learned how to live comfortably in the real world – without numbing their brains with mood-altering chemicals. If things get rough today, can I take a quiet moment and say to myself, as the philosopher Homer once said, "Bear patiently, my heart – for you have suffered heavier things… "?

May the peace of God that passes all human understanding fill the place within me that once harbored my despair. May an appreciation for living – even for life's trials – cancel out my old negative attitudes. During heart-heavy moments, help to remind me that my heart was once much heavier still.

I too am a winner.