Gratitude is appreciation of what you already have.

Ask yourself, "What do I have?"

If the answer is "I have my car, my house and my possessions," I encourage you to look a little broader.

Take a walk outside and look at nature. Can you have the trees, the flowers, the birds, the sun and the clouds and the sky? Can you appreciate a large, expensive house, a luxury car, a well dressed man, or a nice looking woman? Does the world around you belong to someone else -- like the authorities, or rich people, or the government -- or to you?

I have found that gratitude depends upon what you can HAVE. And how you define HAVE is very important!

If you must have title to something in order to have it, then your world is very limited indeed, unless you are a multimillionaire and can buy anything you'd like. If you can have something by just experiencing it, you can appreciate it. And if you can appreciate something, you can feel gratitude for it's existence, and your interaction and experiencing of it.

Have you ever noticed that when you are in a good mood, you notice and appreciate things more? Doesn't this give you a feeling of more having? There is something about the ability to HAVE that expands your feeling of personal prosperity and brightens your outlook on life.

Having applies also in relationships. Some people substitute ownership for love. That significant other becomes, not a joyful partner, but a possession, or something to be molded into someone more acceptable. By accepting a person for who they are, in this moment, allows them the freedom to grow and be that person you have always wanted them to be. And that allows you to grow and be the person you want to be!

Dear friends, take a look at what you feel you can have. With just a little effort, you can expand your world and your appreciation of it immensely, and lead a much happier and fulfilling life.