In the ever-popular motivational speaking vernacular, you often hear the expression “your attitude determines your altitude”. While we also happen to think one’s aptitude is a crucial ingredient, it’s pretty easy for us to be on board with this.

After all, a proactive mindset and the ability to improvise, adapt and overcome can get you far in many situations. In the business world, the right attitude can make the difference between a lifelong customer and a lost sale. In education, it can mean acing that final exam and failing the course. But there’s an aspect of ‘attitude’ that speaks to us on a deeper and more profound level.

Power and control is something we all want in some way, shape or form. We’re only human, right? As difficult as it may seem in the moment, even in the most dire of circumstances, we have the power to choose our attitude. More specifically, we can choose what we focus on - what’s wrong with our world or our lives or our situation, or what’s right about it. And when we make that distinction, it prepares us for the next hurdle, the next big decision, the next setback, the next opportunity. It’s one of many courses in “life school”.

We all say we want to be happy, but we don’t often realize that happiness is an emotion, not a state of being. Our emotions come and go, but our overall state of being is much more concrete. Bob Ross often said when painting dark areas of his paintings that “you have to have dark so your light will show”. He likened that to the notion that “you have to experience a little sadness so you know when the good times come”.

Perhaps it’s in those most severe storms of life, where we feel hung up and twisting in the wind, that we actually find ourselves planted in the most fertile ground in which to grow. We may have experienced a crippling personal loss, but we still have work that sustains us, goals to keep our focus sharp, friends and family who love us. We may have missed out on a business or job opportunity, but we still came out on the other side with more wisdom and insight than we had before - so we’re more prepared when the right door finally does open.

With Thanksgiving fast approaching this month, the Phantom family is radiating that ‘attitude of gratitude’. 2025 has brought another successful summer season, the chance to expand our reach to more customers through holidays like Diwali, and the anticipation of our most consequential season yet - America’s 250th birthday in 2026 and our company’s upcoming 50th anniversary.

But none of that would be possible without the hundreds of thousands of people who have trusted us to make their celebrations unforgettable since 1977. We’ve been there for weddings, graduations, birthdays, picnics, and countless backyard Fourth of July parties. What an incredible gift to be able to have a personal connection to so many families and their stories, and to have built such an intimate rapport across generations. It’s a gift that has our hearts overflowing with gratitude.

And if one’s attitude does in fact determine their altitude, we like to think the sky truly is the limit.