I have a friend who, for years, has ended all of his conversations and correspondence with the phrase, "The best is yet to come." This is more than a pleasant platitude. It leaves you with the positive expectation that it’s going to be a good day.

As our population ages, our society is looking at the prospect of caring for older bodies and minds. The critical element of the quality of one’s life is not how old is your mind and body, but how old or renewed is one’s spirit. We all know people who are elderly in their spirit in their 20s or 30s. On the other hand, like me you have probably met people in their 80s or 90s who are still young at heart and full of life. I believe the difference lies in my friend’s motto, "The best is yet to come."

We become old in our attitudes when we begin to believe that our best days or the best things in life are behind us. We begin to cling to memories instead of the expectation of tomorrow. On the other hand, no matter what age we may be, if we assume "The best is yet to come," it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy and will insure us a great day ahead.

We have spoken before in these little visits I call "Winners’ Wisdom" about the three elements necessary for happiness: Something to do, someone to love, and something to look forward to. If we can live with the expectation that "The best is yet to come," we will always have something to look forward to, and we will find it much easier to identify something to do and someone to love.

We all have tough times and bad days. The difference lies in how we look at these experiences. Some people view difficulties as the normal course of their existence. Others look at troubles as a brief parenthesis in life that will be followed by exciting things and better days.

Remember, we don’t always get what we want, need, or earn. We do, eventually, get what we expect. Go through today with the highest of expectations, and you will, like my friend, discover that "The best is yet to come."

Today’s the day!