🌜Moon Child🌛

Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy — because we will always want to have something else or something more. 

The word gratitude is derived from the Latin word gratia, which means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness (depending on the context). In some ways gratitude encompasses all these meanings. Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible. With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives. In the process, people usually recognize that the source of that goodness lies at least partially outside themselves. As a result, gratitude also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals — whether to other people, nature, or a higher power. 

In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships. 

Grateful living is important in the world because in our constant pursuit of more and better we can easily lose sight of the riches that lay right in front of us and within us.

Grateful living is a way of life which asks us to notice all that is already present and abundant – from the tiniest things of beauty to the grandest of our blessings – and in so doing, to take nothing for granted. We can learn to focus our attention on, and acknowledge, that life is a gift. Even in the most challenging times, living gratefully makes us aware of, and available to, the opportunities that are always available; opportunities to learn and grow, and to extend ourselves with care and compassion to others. 

Grateful Living is supported by daily practices, tools, habits of mind and behaviors that can be learned, translated, and applied to many aspects of our lives. It is also nourished in community and in relationship. 

People feel and express gratitude in multiple ways. They can apply it to the past (retrieving positive memories and being thankful for elements of childhood or past blessings), the present (not taking good fortune for granted as it comes), and the future (supporting a hopeful and optimistic attitude). Regardless of the inherent or current level of someone’s gratitude, it is a quality that individuals can successfully cultivate further. 

Here are sixty things to be grateful for in our lives: 

1. Your parents – for giving birth to you. Because if there is no them, there will not be you. 
2. Your family – for being your closest kin in the world. 
3. Your friends – for being your companions in life. 
4. Sense of sight – for letting you see the colors of life. 
5. Sense of hearing – for letting you hear trickle of rain, the voices of your loved ones, and the harmonious chords of music. 
6. Sense of touch – for letting you feel the texture of your clothes, the breeze of the wind, the hands of your loved ones. 
7. Sense of smell – for letting you smell scented candles, perfumes, and beautiful flowers in your garden. 
8. Sense of taste – for letting you savor the sweetness of fruits, the saltiness of seawater, the sourness of pickles, the bitterness of bitter gourd, and the spiciness of chili. 
9. Your speech – for giving you the outlet to express yourself. 
10. Your heart – for pumping blood to all the parts of your body every second since you were born; for giving you the ability to feel. 
11. Your lungs – for letting you breathe so you can live. 
12. Your immune system – for fighting viruses that enter your body. For keeping you in the pink of your health so you can do the things you love. 
13. Your hands – so you can type on your computer, flip the pages of books, and hold the hands of your loved ones. 
14. Your legs – for letting you walk, run, swim, play the sports you love, and curl up in the comfort of your seat. 
15. Your mind – for the ability to think, to store memories, and to create new solutions. 
16. Your good health – for enabling you to do what you want to do and for what you’re about to do in the future. 
17. Your school – for supplying an environment conducive to learning and growing. 
18. Your teachers – for their dedication and for passing down knowledge to you. 
19. Tears – for helping you express your deepest emotions. 
20. Disappointment – so you know the things that matter to you most. 
21. Fears – so you know your opportunities for growth. 
22. Pain – for you to become a stronger person. 
23. Sadness – for you to appreciate the spectrum of human emotions. 
24. Happiness – for you to soak in the beauty of life. 
25. The Sun – for bringing in light and beauty to this world. 
26. Sunset – for a beautiful sight to end the day. 
27. Moon and Stars – for brightening up our night sky. 
28. Sunrise – for a beautiful sight to start the morning. 
29. Rain – for cooling you when it gets too warm and for making it comfortable to sleep in on weekends. 
30. Snow – for making winter even more beautiful. 
31. Rainbows – for a beautiful sight to look forward to after rain. 
32. Oxygen – for making life possible. 
33. The earth – for creating the environment for life to begin. 
34. Mother nature – for covering our world in beauty. 
35. Animals – for adding to the diversity of life. 
36. Internet – for connecting you and others despite the physical space between you. 
37. Transport – for making it easier to commute from one place to another. 
38. Mobile phones – for making it easy to stay in touch with others. 
39. Computers – for making our lives more effective and efficient. 
40. Technology – for making impossible things possible. 
41. Movies – for supplying a source of entertainment. 
42. Books – for adding wisdom into your life. 
43. Blogs – for connecting you with other like-minded people. 
44. Shoes – for protecting your feet when you are out. 
45. Time – for a system to organize yourself and keep track of activities. 
46. Your job – for giving you a source of living and for being a medium where you can add value to the world. 
47. Music – for lifting your spirits when you’re down and for filling your life with more love. 
48. Your bed – for you to sleep comfortably in every night. 
49. Your home – for a place you can call home. 
50. Your soul mate – for being the one who understands everything you’re going through. 
51. Your best friends – for being there for you whenever you need them. 
52. Your enemies – for helping you uncover your blind spots so you can become a better person. 
53. Kind strangers – for brightening up your days when you least expect it. 
54. Your mistakes – for helping you to improve and become better. 
55. Heartbreaks – for helping you mature and become a better person. 
56. Laughter – for serenading your life with joy. 
57. Love – for letting you feel what it means to truly be alive. 
58. Life’s challenges – for helping you grow and become who you are. 
59. Life – for giving you the chance to experience all that you’re experiencing and will be experiencing in time to come. 

And finally… #60: 

You