"Gratitude has a cleansing effect on the soul," according to spiritual leader and author, Marianne Williamson, "healing us from the inside out." The very act of saying "thank you" makes us humbler, gentler and more loving people. "When something good happens and we give thanks for it," she goes on, "then its positive effect expands within us."

What about expressing thanks for gifts we would rather not have received? What a powerful practice a word of appreciation becomes when even in the face of a serious diagnosis, a child in trouble, or unexpected financial reversals we can say "Thank you, God!" People who in the throes of receiving a gift wrapped in heartache rather than in beautiful ribbons and bows dont ignore the facts, but who remain grateful are "schooled in using the act of giving thanks as a tool for the assumption of spiritual victory." It is out of being grateful that we can know that there is a gift here, and even if we cant see it, gratitude keeps us open to receive it.

"Gratitude is an opener of locked-up blessings," states Ms. Williamson. "Gratitude journals are not just lovely, they work," When we say "thank you" we are reminded of our place in the great and grand design of things.

While life is not always fun, it is always a gift. When we accept that truth, we can live in gratitude that good thing by good thing and disaster by disaster, we are becoming better people. "While I cannot say I am grateful for my pain, I am grateful for the fact that it is never meaningless," Marianne writes. "I have been given a chance to learn" ultimately attaining a sense of womanhood that I can call my own."

Out of every gift the Universe has to offer there comes the opportunity to be grateful; to allow our thanksgiving to reverberate through our entire being. And in that very act, we touch a nerve not only within ourselves but within the universe itself unifying us with the glorious One, and giving us the true sense that Life is grateful to us as well.