We are on the threshold of one the most endearing and spiritually uplifting times of the year, Thanksgiving. This celebration of gratitude opens the golden door to Christmas and the welcoming of a new cycle in the New Year.

But I’ve often wondered what gratitude really means. What is it that makes this attitude such an important one to develop in our lives? It seems to me, that for most of us it is easier to feel gratitude in the springtime of our lives when things are going well. But really challenging when things seem to take a different turn than we hope for. However, we read in the life of many sage-like and saintly people, that feeling gratitude for everything that comes our way opens the door for different possible outcomes that will have a positive impact on our lives.

One of Newton’s laws of physics may serve as an example of the expression in the material world of a more universal and subtler law. The law expounded by Newton states that: when one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on the first body. In the same way, when we can truly feel gratitude, we are setting into motion (vibrationally) a pure and positive call that will attract a response of the same kind back to us. Of course, this is not always easy to do. But if we can start feeling deep gratitude, first for those things that are easier to be grateful for – your family, your job, nature, someone’s kind greeting today – then for the things that are not so obviously worthy of gratefulness, like the coffee that spilled this morning, the heavy traffic to work, or the weather... , then it will gradually become easier to feel gratitude for those instances in life where this attitude is so difficult to apply.

Let’s start together, today, to feel deeply grateful for [fill in the blank], and see how far and deep this can carry us, clearing the way for a more wholesome life lived in peaceful harmony.