Gratitude is one of many positive emotions. It’s about focusing on what’s good in our lives, and being thankful for the things we have. Its learning to notice, take inventory of, what we have and not take things for granted — things like a place to live, food, clean water, friends, family, maybe even having a phone, being alive!

Gratitude:

Gratitude is a virtue because we must choose to celebrate rather than to resent. When we are grateful (gratefulness and gratitude mean the same thing), it is almost impossible to be hateful, angry, and fearful. We should all strive to be more grateful. So many people today are full of hate and bitterness because they feel left out, uncared for; they may even feel as if God doesn’t really care for them.

Comparison: 

I believe a lot of dissatisfaction comes from people comparing themselves to others. When we do this, we will begin to believe that we are being left out, that others have more, are better off than we are. Comparing ourselves to others, I believe, is one of most destructive things we can do.

Thankfulness:

What we need to practice is being thankful for what we do have, being grateful for what we do possess. For some, this will take practice, something we need to do daily. We must retrain our thinking to not meditate on what we do not have, but learn to be thankful for what we do have.

Gratefulness leads to peace and joy, while being unthankful leads to anger and resentment. You always get to choose!

Just a thought,

PSS