Gratitude

Be grateful for the kindly friends that walk along your way; 
Be grateful for the skies of blue that smile from day to day; 
Be grateful for the health you own, the work you find to do, 
For round about you there are men less fortunate than you.

Be grateful for the growing trees, the roses soon to bloom,
The tenderness of kindly hearts that shared your days of gloom;
Be grateful for the morning dew, the grass beneath your feet,
The soft caresses of your babes and all their laughter sweet.

Acquire the grateful habit, learn to see how blest you are,
How much there is to gladden life, how little life to mar!
And what if rain shall fall today and you with grief are sad;
Be grateful that you can recall the joys that you have had.

--Edgar Guest--

Gratitude is so often lacking in our modern world. Each day blessings come to us that make our life better in some way. We've grown accustomed to expecting so much, but feel we owe nothing in return. We live in an 'entitled' society, and for many, being thankful is one of the hardest things to express, but gratitude is not simply something that we externally share with others. Indeed, gratitude is an attitude that we live with every day. Some of the unhappiest people I’ve met in my life have also been the most ungrateful. 

We don't have to be rich to in order to be grateful, and by all means, you most certainly   don't need have to have a lot of trinkets and other things.They are only material things. Objects.  What counts is what is inside. Appreciation of the earth, the water, the plants, and the animals; that is what helps us live fuller and more aware lives.Being grateful...It is so important that we show our gratitude to Mother Nature for all of Her gifts, and the first step to doing this is to begin taking care of Her. This web of life is like a Great circle with all things equally important...the circle of giving and receiving; the circles of nature that surround and support us... the earth, sun, moon, seasons, day and night and the all of the cycles that make up life. 

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…. It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

--Melodie Beattie--