"Gratitude is a choice. It is a conscious and deliberate decision to focus on life's blessings rather than its shortcomings. Life will always have shortcomings, and it will always have virtues. When you focus on your blessings, your life feels abundant. When you focus on what's missing, life feels incomplete. Where you point the spotlight of your attention is purely a matter of choice.
The power of gratitude is undeniably immense. Without a doubt, a perpetual spirit of thankfulness is the central ingredient in the recipe for a joy-filled life. You are going to draw more joy out of your business, out of your marriage, out of your family, and out of all the other aspects of your existence when you make a commitment to become an openly and overtly grateful person.
Gratitude is also an effective antidote to most negative emotions. You cannot experience gratitude and hostility at the same time; you have to make a choice. Which one is it going to be? The more things you appreciate today, the more things you will notice tomorrow to be grateful for. On the flip side, the less appreciative you are today, the fewer blessings you will tend to acknowledge tomorrow. The Greek philosopher Epictetus said, "He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not but rejoices for those which he has."
- excerpt from 40 Days to a Joy-Filled Life by Tommy Newberry
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