Gratitude, thankfulness, gratefulness, or appreciation is a positive emotion or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive. The experience of gratitude has historically been a focus of several world religions,  and has been considered extensively by moral philosophers such as Adam Smith^. The systematic study of gratitude within psychology only began around the year 2000, possibly because psychology has traditionally been focused more on understanding distress rather than understanding positive emotions.

However, with the advent of the positive psychology movement, gratitude has become a mainstream focus of psychological research. The study of gratitude within psychology has focused on the understanding of the short term experience of the emotion of gratitude (state gratitude), individual differences in how frequently people feel gratitude (trait gratitude), and the relationship between these two aspects.

In the past 5 years, I have tried to live by these ideas -  but I am one of these "glass half empty" guys -  and  I hate that about myself!  I want the glass to always be half full!

In the last 48 hours, so much has happened in my life, it has made me realize more than ever, the importance of these ideals and we must never lose site of their importance! Good things CAN COME TO YOU. Don't give up! Be grateful everyday for what you have!


Go Gratitude  says  Gratitude as the Master Key that opens all doors of possibility.

Abundance and Happiness says,

and Zen Habits  says, Many days, I try to humble myself and hold a 2-minute gratitude session. I simply sit or kneel, with no distractions, close my eyes, and think about what I’m grateful for and who I’m grateful for.

You know, we run and mange about 15 blog sites. Most of them make money. Official Life By Design, does not. But we try to keep it up to share with others, ways to grow in life. The stuff they DON'T teach you in school.

Hopefully, you get something out of it. It's all about the JOURNEY!