Margie Lapanja of Incline Village, Nevada, has this formula for tapping into gratefulness in our lives and making every day a thank-you.

"Being grateful for the gifts you have been given, love being the most resplendent of all, is the very foundation of a timeless, joyous Celebration of Life. For the love you give and the love you receive to thrive with freshness, stability, and magic, always count and honor your blessings and gifts. A careless rain falls on the party whose revelers are numb with the side effects of living in a fast-forward world. If you don't make the effort to protect your love light with an umbrella of gratitude, your light will dim or be extinguished."

Here are some practices she suggests:
• Make a promise to yourself to consciously set aside a time each day (even if it is but sixty precious seconds) to fortify your belief in the miracle of love and keep the river of your soul flowing with clear and clean waters through the practice of gratitude.

• Upon waking, as you lie in bed drifting through your dreams, greet the glory of the new day with a sacred declaration of the power of love. Either aloud or in silence, recite this personal celebration of rebirth, new beginnings, and possibilities inspired by an Irish prayer, or create a canticle — and a time — of your own:

I arise this day
With love in my heart,
Through the warmth of the sun,
The radiance of the moon,
Freedom of the wind,
Joy of rushing water,
Splendor of fire,
Stability of earth,
Serenity of stars, and
the wisdom of silence.
I embrace this day
Through the grace of life to guide me
And the promise of love to inspire me.

Nina Lesowitz, Mary Beth Sammons in Living Life As A Thank You: The Transformative Power of Daily Gratitude by Mary Beth Sammons, Nina Lesowitz