Gratitude is one of the most powerful ways that we express love; it keeps our hearts open to each other. It is impossible to have a closed heart when we are thankful. This practice keeps us learning and growing, and frees our generosity.
The practice of offering gratitude bestows many benefits. It dissolves negative feelings. Anger, arrogance and jealousy melt in its embrace. Fear and defensiveness dissolve. Gratitude diminishes barriers to love and evokes happiness, which is itself a powerfully healing and beneficial emotion. It establishes a foundation for the challenging work of forgiveness in relationships when we've experienced betrayal, loss, broken promises, deceptions, and disappointments. Gratitude keeps alive what has meaning for us and fosters our capacity to apologize and forgive. As gratitude grows out of love, its expression creates an opening through which increased generosity and good will can emerge. Today give gratitude for the Blessings, Learnings, Mercies, and Protections that you are currently experiencing in your life.
— Angeles Arrien in The Second Half of Life