Writing offers more than an opportunity to make money and the added benefits could be more important. Everyone could use more money now, perhaps more than ever, but nearly everyone can use new survival skills and coping techniques.

While not presenting myself as a Mr. Fix-it, I do nonetheless believe that I like all of you have a chance to share some life experiences that will help others navigate the troubled waters to a safe harbor.

In the short time I have been writing, I have had the more fortunate opportunity to learn from others. Some of what I have learned is priceless and I quickly add that I have not read any material elsewhere even remotely related to the key learning points discovered in these labors of writing.

Attitude is one of the topics that impresses me because for many people, survival or successful coping, will depend on their attitude.

We forget that attitude is that quality that portrays us most completely to the world we live in; to our own little world. We need to know that other people find us to be uplifting even when we think we have no reason to be in any state of mind but down. Attitude is contagious and attitude is also a measure of who and what we are.

It is difficult for people to imagine that visual imaging of their success and high worth as a person is a not only possible but essential. The great football coach and motivational speaker, Lou Holtz, has said often that he imagined himself a success and visualized what his success could and would look like. Holtz achieved every visualization that he created in his mind. It was his attitude.

The best selling author Rick Warren had the same experience and achieved the same results. There are countless other achievers in our time who have have set their sights on success and then began to believe they were on their way.

Our minds react to to the thoughts we give it which is a better path than to allow ourselves to react to the thoughts our minds give us.

Success is not measured in achievements as much as it is in how many failures and obstacles we have overcome to get to our ultimate destination.

Thomas Edison was told that he must have been disappointed to have failed 300 times before he finally made the light bulb. Edison replied that he did not fail but rather he found 300 ways to not make the light bulb.

Having had the privelge of listening to a lecture given by a close friend of Thomas Edison I concluded that being in the presence of Edison was an inspiration like no other failure could provide. Failure only drove Edison to contemplate another path. Attitude prevailed.

When we can help our colleagues who are in distress and our fellow human beings who feel less than human we have accomplished far more than a bank balance would ever show.

Doesn't it help to know that there is someone out there who knows, who cares and who will take the time to impart their humble wisdom in a sincere desire to better equip another person to put one foot in front of the other and go on, and on, and on.

Life is dynamic, ever changing and ever challenging. What is facing us today may be here tomorrow or may not be, but whatever will be we can certainly know that we will be here to deal with it. How we deal with tomorrow, how we work our way through tomorrow, will depend largely on the attitude we have about ourselves.

A brilliant contributor challenged us to not look at our earnings. I believe that is good advice because if we look too often we will be motivated to try and find the key to writing only for money and not writing what is on our lips and in our minds and hearts. That is where the real gold is.