Attitudes of Gratitude: How to Give and Receive Joy Every Day of Your Life

by M.J. Ryan

The more we are thankful, the more light we experience and the more we shine forth into the world.

This is the true way of positive thinking, be thankful for all there is, rather than wishing to have more.

A pessimist is someone who has exercised the muscles of negativity

There is always something negative and positive manifesting in life, but it's our training of the mind what we will see. If we strengthen the muscle of negativity it will become hard to see the beauty even when there is plenty, yet the slight inconvenience will pop up immediately. It's not so much about ignoring all the bad stuff that's going on, but rather to train the muscle of gratefulness for what went well, what I have, and so on, despite all these negative things still being there.

If we expect someone or something outside ourselves to make us happy, we lose our power. The truth is we can’t count on anything except our ability to choose how to respond to what happens to us.