"You have it easily in your power to increase
the sum total of this world's happiness now. How? By giving a few words of
sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged. Perhaps you
will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may
cherish them over a lifetime."
- Dale Carnegie, author
There is an art to appreciation, and a reward that far
outweighs any problems. The art is that appreciation is a gift of the
heart, of the spirit, of the soul from you to another... there is no fixed
formula for success. True appreciation is spontaneous, natural, sincere
and freely offered.
The reward for offering such appreciation is that whatever you appreciate
shall become a bigger part of your life. Anything you spend your time and
attention on will be a part of your life, but there is something
extra-special about the gratitude in appreciation that brings these
gifts.
Gratitude has long been understood to be at the heart of living a spiritual
or meaningful life, as can be seen in the writings of Melody Beattie and
Meister Eckhart:
"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
"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was,
'thank you,' that
would suffice."
- Meister Eckhart
Whether you share your love and gratitude with people,
animals, rocks, or the wind... your grateful feelings, honestly shared will
transform your life.
The simplest prayer is "Thank You". You can say it any
time, and see what a difference it makes!
