Want to be more compassionate? Work on gratitude. Want more inner peace? Work on gratitude. Want more patience? Work on gratitude. Want to reduce your stress? Want to live longer? Want to heal more quickly? You get the point. Gratitude does this by creating new contexts through which we process the occurrences of our lives. And it is our perspective on life that determines our ability to experience gratitude. Dr. Robert Emmons has both studied and researched the subject of gratitude at length and says in his new book Thanks: . . . grateful people experience higher levels of positive emotions such as joy, enthusiasm, love, happiness and optimism, and the practice of gratitude as a discipline protects a person from the destructive impulses of envy, resentment, greed and bitterness. We have discovered that a person who experiences gratitude is able to cope more effectively with everyday stress, may show increased resilience in the face of trauma-induced stress, may recover more quickly from illness and benefit from greater physical health. Although there is the feeling of gratitude, gratitude is much more than that. It is a state of being. At its core, gratitude is a deep feeling of appreciation for everything - for the gifts we have been given, for nature and the Earth, for this day, for each other, for life, for humankind and also for those who are closest to us – our parents, partners, children and animal friends. Expressing gratitude creates a feeling of expansiveness. We reach out and touch other people, nature, God, The Universe. . . Receiving gratitude is also unlike anything else we experience. It melts the doubt and uncertainty that otherwise dog us. It soothes our pain. Gratitude is personal. It is centered in us, but not in an egocentric way. It is an expansive feeling of thanks for all that we have been given and for all the things we appreciate. Words simply cannot express the grandeur of gratitude. It is an essential aspect of the God Space. It has been said that, “Gratitude is the heart’s memory.”