I thought we all could use a dose of something positive and uplifting. This article comes from the Kansas City Star.

AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE Being thankful for what you have in life can have many benefits By JILL DUTTON - Special to The Star Date: 08/22/01 22:15

Mother always taught me to say please and thank you, and her wise words still remind me to be thankful for life's simple kindnesses.

Whether you are thanking an individual or reciting beatitudes to a higher source, gratitude offers a number of physical and mental health benefits.

"Being grateful is more than a social grace; it creates an awareness and consciousness of receptivity," says the Rev. Chris Michaels of the Center for Spiritual Living in Kansas City.

"When you receive, you claim, accept and acknowledge ownership," Michaels says. "An attitude of gratitude is an attitude of being able to receive the good that is already available."

As such, gratitude can be used as a diagnostic tool. "As a therapist, gratitude is also my best friend. It is a diagnostic tool. If a person can feel gratitude, they will definitely get better," says Mark Sichel, a licensed clinical social worker in New York and founder of www. psybersquare.com.

Some of the reasons Sichel suggests being grateful include:

It is probably the best and only treatment for self-pity.

It is a motivational speaker inside every one of us.

When we feel gratitude and acknowledge our higher power's generosity, then we are motivated to be the best we can be.

When we are struck by personal tragedy, often the only way to get a perspective is by focusing on that for which we all have to be grateful.

"Often it is difficult to remember our best friend, gratitude, particularly when we feel trapped under a black cloud of despair and hopelessness," Sichel says.

"Those who attend religious services of any kind are helped to focus on gratitude within the rituals and liturgy of their faith. Some of us have no such outlet, and it is to that end we learn to create various reminders to ourselves to draw upon our gratitude."

Whether used as a spiritual practice or as a social consciousness, expressing gratitude can be a gratifying experience.

The Rev. Vicky Combs, founding minister of Gaia Community, a Unitarian Universalist Pagan-Theme Congregation in Overland Park, says: "I'm a firm believer in the old adage, `There but for the grace of God go I.' It's a sense of recognizing that all blessings and good fortune are not of our own making. Gratitude is an important part of my spiritual life and my social consciousness because I look at a situation and see that it is not a coincidence that I received the educational benefits I did.

"I've often taught classes on economic justice, and it always amazes me that in our system we have this myth of the meritocracy, where people who are well off like to tell themselves it's because they worked hard and deserve it. All of the studies of wealth in this country show that the vast majority of people are where they are on a socioeconomic scale because of their parents' socioeconomic situation. I am always aware that my good fortune was a blessing given to me. Not that I don't work hard, I do, but that's not the point."

Your state of mind is key, Michaels says. "When you cultivate an attitude that is thankful it is highly receptive to greater good," he says. "That's your responsibility to cultivate that awareness. No one can guilt or shame you into gratefulness. It is an awareness you are responsible for cultivating and maintaining in your own life."

To start acknowledging gratitude in your life create a gratitude journal. Write down five things for which you're grateful each day.

People who have kept gratitude journals over a period of time report that it helps them focus on what they have in the present.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All content © 2001 The Kansas City Star

-- Anonymous, August 23, 2001