The life of John Randolph Price changed drastically one day in the late 1960s, but it was not because of an extraordinary event or happenstance meeting. In fact, it was the very ordinariness of his daily trudge to the train station outside Chicago - where the then-advertising executive and throngs of other businessmen caught the morning ride downtown - that gave him pause.

"I walked out to the platform. Every one of us had a tan overcoat, a hat and an umbrella," Price said. "I turned around and walked home. I said, 'I'm not going to do this anymore. There's got to be a better way.'"

Price and his wife, Jan, say they have found that "better way," and have devoted their lives to sharing their positive approach to inner happiness, health and contentment with people all over the world through books, radio and television appearances and seminars. In 1986, they created World Healing Day, an annual peace vigil observed internationally Dec. 31.

The couple presented a three-hour workshop at Columbia Church of Religious Science in the Hawthorn Neighborhood Center on Sunday. Called "The Divine Design for Health, Wealth and Happiness," the Prices took 116 participants through a series of interactive exercises and lectures, to enhance self-awareness and offer a peek at the power of positive thinking.

John Price, author of 17 books on the subject, including The Superbeings and The Alchemist's Handbook, got his first glimpse of positive thinking shortly after his about-face at the train station. An acquaintance in the insurance business, W. Clement Stone, slipped him a copy of his 1962 book, The Success System That Never Fails. "I thought it was a book about selling life insurance," Price says.

Instead, it was a tutorial in the power of positive thinking. "Nothing is impossible if you set your mind to it," Price says he learned from the text. He and Jan read "stacks" of similar books thereafter, and they put the philosophy to the test.

"I made a list of 20 things I really wanted," recalled the 70-year-old Texan. "It was very materialistic." He directed his positive thinking toward making more money, having a country club membership and owning an ad agency in Houston. "Within six months, everything came to pass," he said.

It's that simple, the Prices say. Think positive. Visualize what you want.

Sounds like the grown-up version of The Little Engine That Could, changing the train's mantra from "I think I can" to "I know I can."

"Energy follows thought," John Price told the Columbia audience during Sunday's workshop. "We create our own experiences."

The Prices, who will celebrate 49 years of marriage this month, came across as part entertainers and part typical married couple. As John's animated descriptions crescendoed, Jan reeled in the audience with her soft-spoken Texas drawl. Their easy conversational style, peppered with amusing anecdotes and playful interruptions, made it easy to forget they were addressing subjects as serious as spiritual fulfillment and changing your life.

The crowd was particularly well-suited for the Price's message, said Marie Chilton, 50, a participant from Wilde Lake who has been a member of Columbia Church of Religious Science for five years. "We're all positive thinkers," she said. "This church community really works on the positive aspect of our thoughts."

"It's a philosophy as much as it's a religion," said Karen Brown, 53, of Kings Contrivance. "This workshop is consistent with our church philosophy. They communicate it in a truly enjoyable way."

The workshop has no official religious affiliation, but Kathy Jordan, who coordinated the event, believes it's a perfect fit. "The Church of Religious Science's philosophy is if you're willing to change your thinking, you can change your life," said Jordan, of Clarksville. "What you put your attention on, you can see that result in your life. John and Jan have that exact same philosophy."

"Wholeness and perfection are everywhere," John Price gently told the audience as they listened with eyes closed at the end of the program. "Success is everywhere. Love is everywhere. ... Focus on what you want in life. See the vision. See the words. Capture the feeling."