Chapter 9. Optimists Give Thanks for Gratitude
"There is a secret to happiness and it is gratitude. All happy people are grateful, and ungrateful people cannot be happy. We tend to think that it is being unhappy that leads people to complain, but it is truer to say that it is complaining that leads to people becoming unhappy. Become grateful and you will become a much happier person. I try to be happy unless something happens that makes me unhappy, rather than unhappy unless something makes me happy."
The great game of life presents us with our fair share of both adversity and good fortune. You have bad accidents and happy accidents—things happen to you that you do not and cannot control. In the last chapter, we focused on how optimism can transform the ways in which you handle adversity. In this chapter, we'll discuss how you can enhance a positive outlook by simply becoming more thankful.
We live much of our lives on autopilot. While adversity often gets our attention, the many daily blessings and gifts we experience go by without notice. We seldom take time to even consider the electricity that powers homes and businesses, but when the power is out, we're quickly reminded of how important it is to our lives. Whether it is love or lights, it is absence that makes the heart grow fonder.
"We need some thanks right now for all the things money can't buy. . . . I'm talking about our kids and grandkids, parents and grandparents, health, faith, ...
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