In Twelve Step meetings, its traditional to groan when someone says, Lets have a gratitude meeting. People dont like to talk or think about what theyre grateful for. Its not in our nature. Were more tuned to whats going wrong than whats going right. We cant help it. The cave men who sat around and admired how white the teeth on the saber toothed tiger were, didnt last long enough to reproduce. The ones who realized those teeth were a bad thing are our ancestors, so to speak.

But gratitude is important. Sometimes I just sit in my office, which I painted and decorated myself after moving into a wonderful new house, and I look at all the hangings on the wall and the things on my desk and the books on my shelves and I remember growing up in a house where I couldnt sleep in my bedroom in the winter because the north wind blew through the window and the room was uninhabitable. And I feel grateful.

Gratitude gets a bad rap as being some sort of feel-good thing, but its not. Real, true, deep gratitude comes from the soul. Its not some pop-culture thing. Its not something you say to make yourself look good or to make someone else feel good.

Real gratitude is truly appreciating what you have, and feeling its enough. Sure, there are other things youd like to have. There always will be. But in gratitude, you realize that if you dont get the new car or the new house, its enough.

We should be grateful for gratitude because its one of the fastest ways to appreciate our lives and feel happier. This simple technique, practiced every day, can change your life.