What are you grateful for?
How often do you ask yourself and others this powerful question? Sadly, many of us don’t take the time to ask or answer this question on a regular basis.
There are many reasons we have for not focusing on gratitude. We’re too busy…we’re waiting for things to work out “perfectly”…we don’t want to brag or be obnoxious…we focus on what needs improvement and all of the things we still have to do…we feel funny or get embarrassed…and on and on. These “reasons,” while understandable, are all just excuses.
Jack Canfield, author of The Success Principles and co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, says that gratitude is the single most important ingredient to living a successful and fulfilled life.
Gratitude not only makes us feel good, it also is the greatest attractor of abundance, love, peace, success, connection, and more – the good stuff – that we all want in our lives. The more we focus on what we already have, the wonderful aspects of our lives, and what we appreciate, the more we’ll have to be grateful for.
Stop for a moment right now and think about some of the things that you’re grateful for in your own life. Make a list – either in your head or on paper. We each have so much. When we take the time to acknowledge our many blessings, we utilize the power of gratitude in a way that benefits us and those around us in a profound way.

Gratitude Practices
Create a daily gratitude practice. It doesn’t really matter what you do or how you do it, just that you come up with a simple and meaningful way to focus on what you’re grateful for each day. Below is a short list of some different possibilities for your gratitude practice. Pick one, use many, or come up with something on your own:
• Use a “gratitude journal” and write in it each morning, each evening, or both
• Talk to God in prayer about what you’re grateful for
• Meditate and focus on gratitude
• Have everyone at the dinner table share something they’re grateful before you eat
• Before you go to bed, talk to a friend, your spouse, or someone that you care about and let them know some of the things you’re grateful for from that day
It’s not what we know; it’s what we do that matters! While most of us know it is important to be grateful, when we put gratitude into action in our lives and remember what we’re grateful for on a regular basis; that’s how we can use the power of gratitude to transform our lives!

"Be thankful Be thankful for this day, and you will fill it with joy. Be appreciative of those around you, and they will bring much value to your life. Be grateful for your opportunities, and you'll find yourself making the most of them. Be thankful for what you have, and you'll get more from it. Be grateful for the challenges, and they will help you become stronger. Appreciate the dark, cloudy days and they'll instantly become brighter. Appreciate the sunny days, and you'll enjoy them even more. Those things you take for granted will fade from usefulness as you forget they're even there. By contrast, those things for which you're thankful remain readily available and will grow even stronger as a result of your appreciative attention. Consider how very fortunate you are. Consider it often. The more you count your blessings, the more there will be to count. "