Why are you grateful?

A lot of books about self improvement and empowerment tell you that part of the secret to success is an attitude of gratitude. They say that all of the good things coming to you will only make their way to you once you have shown appreciation for what you already have.

But gratitude or gratefulness what is it? It is the state or act of being thankful. It is being happy or glad for the mere existence of some particular thing in your life.

What kind of things should you be grateful for? The short answer is everything. I am grateful just to be alive, to be able to breathe in great lung fulls of air, to be able to smell the scent of flowers, taste wondrous foods, to feel and be able to differentiate between smooth and rough textures,to be able to see my beautiful wife and to hear the sounds of my son tearing through the house on his quest to play with everyone and everything. I am grateful for the love of my wife and the existence of my son.
I am also grateful for all the negative experiences in my life, all the challenges and obstacles. Up until this point you were probably going, "yeah right on! I feel you". But now I may have lost you. I really do value all of the things in my life good and bad. And here's a couple of reasons why.

I would not be the person that I am today if I had not had the exact set of experiences, good, bad or neutral, that I have had throughout my life. If even one minute detail had been different, I would be a slightly different person. And more likely than not, one small detail being different would have led to different thoughts,emotions,decisions and actions. A snow ball effect would probably have occurred and a great many things about me might have turned out differently. And the things is I REALLY REALLY like me just the way I am. There are of course things that I may not be perfectly in harmony with, but that's natural. We always have room for improvement and I am working on those things. But the point is I am grateful for all the experiences that have made me who I am.

Also, life needs contrast. People who grow up rich their whole lives never really understand what it is like to be poor or homeless. They have thoughts and ideas designed to help those that are less fortunate, but more often than not they are doomed to failure because they do not really understand what it is like to BE less fortunate. Likewise, without having great tragedy or failure you can not properly appreciate great success. It is still possible to achieve, it just won't mean anything to you when you do.  I am grateful for all my mistakes and failures because they provide opportunity for new growth. I am grateful for all the pain that I have had in my past because it allows me to properly appreciate the joy that I have today. I am grateful for all of the people that choose to spend time with me in my life right now and all the people that have shared their lives with me in the past.

What are you grateful for?