According to Dictionary.com, the definition of gratitude is the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful.  In the States, we tend to do this once a year when we have Thanksgiving.  But for me, it’s something that I do every day.  I started to do a daily appreciation on my private Facebook page after seeing a Ted Talk on Positive Psychology by Shawn Achor (it’s amazingly funny and worth seeing) while being a substitute teacher for a Health class.

Every day I search out something to write.  And so what I’m doing is looking for life’s positives.  This search means that I don’t ignore the little good things in my life, but magnify them.  And the bad stuff becomes lesser.  Many people have a habit of focusing on the negatives and this becomes their life (self-fulfilling prophesy, my friends).  While there are bad things in my life, and I’m not someone who is always positive, I like the fact that I try to find the good in my life and make those experiences more important than the bad ones.  It’s too easy to be bogged down by the downers.

Here’s a visual for you – even in those places where it seems to be ugly, beauty can be found.