• Listening to a news story about tornadoes the other day, I heard one man interviewed who was moaning about his losses. I could understand how he might feel abused by Mother Nature,

but when he said, "Everyone knows that bad luck follows me and my family and that is why the tornado found our house," it sent a cold chill up my spine. I believe any guy who thinks he is doomed to failure; expecting a dreadful fate of bad luck all the rest of his life, will have just that.
• In a similar vein, there are ancient plays, classic, and modern literature that illustrate how believing in a curse gives it power. It seems a tragic human flaw that believing terrible things are going to happen, can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
• The good news in all this, is that the opposite can also be true. How many of us know of someone who has been successful, at least in part because that person thinks good things are going to happen? It is no surprise much of what happens to us is determined by our attitude.

• Go to the library, and read about "The Power of Positive Thinking," by Norman Vincent Peal, "How to Win Friends and Influence People," by Dale Carnegie, and "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," by Stephen Covey, to understand the power of an optimistic outlook.
• This is not to say that thinking positively will prevent the calamities of life, or that grumps can't be successful. Nor am I

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