This is my grandmother. She lived to be more than 100 years old. She raised four girls, worked at a home business and for others, helped my grandfather to build both a house and a home. She was politically active (not my stripe of politics), and loved to read, despite leaving school at an early age. She began life in the country, with no running water or electricity, and lived well beyond men going to the moon. Imagine the things she saw!
Her attitude wasn’t always sunny, far from it. She could be caustic (no one who knows me will be surprised). But generally she subscribed to the idea that we should always show up looking our best, give our utmost, and work our hardest. She was a realist who tried to get through things, not always uncomplainingly. She loved me, and all her children and grandchildren well, and fiercely. She believed we all deserve an opinion, and a voice.
So when I think about why I need to always believe that attitude is altitude (and work to make this my reality, sometimes stumblingly), she is my role model and spirit guide.