Dear Readers: As we enter into this holiday season with Thanksgiving starting tomorrow, it is a good time to start to live in the “gratitude flow” with life. When we are grateful for big and little things, we are actively and purposefully living a more grounded life. What we appreciate is appreciated.

The best way to do this is to start practicing gratitude at the beginning and end of each day. When you first wake up in the morning, try to think of five things that you are grateful for. Then, when you are getting ready for bed, think of five more things that you are grateful for. It might be helpful to think of five things that happened during the day because they are fresh in your mind.

Some people prefer to keep a gratitude journal, where they list all of the things they feel grateful for.

You will probably start off with the big things, but as the days go by, you can find more and more little things to be grateful for. It could be the delicious cup of coffee in the morning or how you heard your favorite song on the way to work. Whatever it is, just stick with it. The more you practice this exercise, the more you will find yourself noticing things to be grateful for.

I have always believed that it is better to want what you get than to get what you want, which is another way of stressing the importance of gratitude. Think of people you know who are cheerful and grateful for everything — they are always thankful for whatever they receive — and how much you enjoy being around them.

But for many people, there is a natural tendency to criticize ourselves and others and to focus on what we lack. But gratitude is the ideal antidote to those negative feelings. In fact, whatever we focus on is what we attract. If we focus on lack, we get more of that. If we focus on abundance, we attract more abundance.

Oprah Winfrey attributes gratitude to her success and happiness in life. As she says, “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”

The biblical phrase “my cup runneth over” is one of my favorite expressions. The more filled up we feel with love and gratitude, the happier we are, and the more generous we feel.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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