The keynote of everything we do is to be of one accord. Prior to the one accord, there is discussion. Once the thing discussed is agreed upon and we've made a loving commitment to it, we move. Then, when you talk and do things, you find that people will start to assist you. You feel grateful for that, but you won't really feel the gratitude until someone else asks for help and you do help them. Then you feel the gratitude of the giving and the joy that comes with freely giving.

Sometimes the best way to make the most out of a situation is to get out of it. The other way is to accept it and be grateful that it isn't worse. I find that it's much easier to just love it all. When it shows up, I go, "Wow. Another form of loving. Another face of loving. Another expression of loving. Another location of loving." And then I get to participate in it. That's grateful.

One of the greatest keys in my armory is gratitude. Through gratitude I can always go to a more expansive and deeper level within myself. It often requires that I be more open and have a greater ability to receive, but that is what I want anyway. When I go into gratitude, I am always rewarded.

Be conscious of your gratitude more often. Look for little ways you can do it. I'm looking down at my shoe right now and I'm grateful for the shoelace. If I can do it like that, I bet wherever you're sitting or listening or watching, you can also do some gratitude.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus gave us a picture of gratitude when he said, "Nevertheless, your will be done." And the gratitude of that statement was that there was a Father who had all things in His hand and that even Jesus was in that hand.

Be thankful for what upsets you, seeing it as a teacher of what you need to learn. If that seems strange and outside of your reality, then you have something to learn. If you realize you don't know how to gain from what upsets you, then you have more to learn.

With gratitude comes appreciation and, most important, loving. If you want to create an opportunity to bring forward your success, loving is the most powerful beam for it to ride in on. When we are more and more loving, we attract loving energy. That loving energy is for our use, not abuse. It's an energy that does not work if we try to hold on to it as ours and not share it. If a person tries to keep loving energy as their own, this is like being a negative alchemist; they can turn a powerful loving force into decay.

The antidote for lack is gratitude. Gratitude is a choice, an attitude, an approach towards life. My gratitude for this moment does not depend on what is going on in this moment; it is the moment, regardless of what is going on, that I am grateful for. My gratitude for this breath is not about the breath. It's that I am breathing, that I recognize it comes from a higher source, and that I am alive. Gratitude is a moment-to-moment celebration.

Give joyfully, with an attitude of gratitude for the blessings that already are.

Gratitude is a powerful antidote to negativity. When you are feeling up against it, the simple approach of counting your blessings can help you. This is a way of focusing on the good things in your life even while you are aware of the challenges you are facing and taking steps to handle them.