78. Gratitude

It's laughable how badly we have failed in regards to punctuality with these first two words (especially because it is summer time and this is when our schedules will be the most relaxed,) but nevertheless, they shall be posted!
Gratitude is a noun and is defined on dictionary.com as being "the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful. In my opinion it is one of the most important of all the virtues because it lifts and builds every single person it involves. Here are some quotes from persons much more eloquent than I, who can better encapsulate the different elements of being grateful.

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.

~G.K. Chesterton


If you count all your assets, you always show a profit.

~Robert Quillen


If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily.

~Gerald Good


There is not a more pleasing exercise of the mind than gratitude. It is accompanied with such an inward satisfaction that the duty is sufficiently rewarded by the performance.

~Joseph Addison


There is no greater difference between men than between grateful and ungrateful people.

~R.H. Blyth


Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart.

~Henry Clay


Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.

~Henry Ward Beecher


When our perils are past, shall our gratitude sleep?

~George Canning


Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.

~Melody Beattie

The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!

~Henry Ward Beecher

I personally am grateful for the ability to be grateful. Gratitude and seeing the positive in all situations makes difficult easier and happiness greater. There is always something positive or good in even the most awful situation, it's just up to us to find it.
Gratitude is a habit and a lifestyle; a perspective through which one views life. It's like rose colored glasses, but better :)
Share what you're thankful for here: http://www.iamthankful.com/gratitude-journal/