“The root of joy is gratefulness. It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.” 

Brother David Steindl-Rast

Gratitude is an internal expression of thankfulness for what one has. It is a recognition of wealth that is independent of monetary worth. This attitude of gratitude is at the core of a joyful heart.  

The practice of gratefulness is to truly take notice, to be present to the gifts of our lives from the moment we awaken in the morning until we go to bed at night. In this way we remind ourselves that gratefulness is an approach to life that we can cultivate and reference at any time. In other words, we’re not waiting for something to happen or our circumstances to change before expressing gratefulness.

When we embrace the essence of gratefulness, we are reminded that time is limited and experiences are momentary, so we tend to treasure deeply what we have now and live more fully in the realm of what really matters.