The path following our attitude makes all the difference. I believe it is the single most important factor in determining our happiness or dissatisfaction in life.

When we plan a career - or fall into one - our future is determined by a variety of factors. Education and intellect are two of these factors. Attitude is another. If we do not bring a good education to a career, we can be open - even eager - to learning. We can be grateful for every opportunity to advance. Or we can assume getting a job was enough. An attitude can be that we know everything we need to know or that there is no such thing as learning enough.

Supreme Court
Justice Antonin Scalia's
friendship with Justice Ruth
Ginsburg was both unlikely and
legendary. With opposing positions on
most issues and a very different orientation
to the law, these two were, nevertheless, in Justice
Ginsburg?s estimate, "Best Buddies."  I believe the
glue in their relationship was their attitude.

Consider attitudes abut marriage. Some couples see marriage as a final destination. Others see it as the beginning of knowing more about each other every day. Each attitude determines the quality of our lives.

An attitude of being open to life's adventures is the polar opposite of being closed to any deviance from what we already know. A positive attitude even allowed an exemplary conservative at the pinnacle of his career to enjoy a lifelong friendship with a staunch liberal at the height of her career, with neither compromising their principles.

How do we know which attitude we exude? Are we generally happy? Our attitude is open and positive. If it is one of grumpiness, it is closed.

Attitude is everything.

Jean Loxley-Barnard has been a writer all her life and studied both sociology and psychology at George Washington University where she earned a B.A. Her company, The Shopper, Inc., encompasses all the Loxley-Barnard family publications - The Shopper Magazines and Doctor to Doctor Magazine. She has been in the advertising, consulting and publishing business for 39 years.