Lately, all we seem to hear about on the news is violence and politics. It's frightening to look at a world with so much potential to be seemingly stuck in a state of turmoil. On the scale of our world I can only hope and pray we find our way back someday soon. On the scale of my personal life, however, I can look beyond the negative distractions and continue to give thanks for all of the blessings surrounding me.

Gratitude is one of those things you can't over-do and will certainly help others feel appreciated. If someone demonstrates an act of kindness for you, chances are they won't be expecting anything in return. We do favors for each other because we want to, because it is worth it to go out of our way a little bit to help the next person out. That kind of generosity is pure and expressing the gratitude I am positive you feel is a simple way to strengthen your connection with another person, showing your appreciation for them and hopefully continuing the trend of kindness.

As I said before, gratitude isn't something you can ever do enough. What exactly am I getting at here? I already discussed one thing, the actual expression of gratitude; however, there's another piece to the puzzle: noticing something to be grateful for. Commonplace examples include thanking someone for holding the door open or lending a hand when your's are clearly too full. Let's look a little deeper, though. You are saying goodbye to someone significant in your life and you tell them you love them. After they reciprocate, thank them. It sounds silly but honestly, you appreciate their love, right? That person has made a promise to respect you, cherish you, and forgive you, just to name a few. Reminding them of how much their love means to you with a simple thanks could mean more than you know.

There might be one person you continuously forget to thank: yourself. Yes, you should thank yourself. At the end of the day, you are the one pushing yourself day in and day out. You are accomplishing the goals you've set for yourself and you are creating the life you've always dreamt of.

With that said, let's not ignore the importance of thanking God. He has blessed us all in more ways than we can count, even if those blessings don't always make sense at first.

I personally began to recognize the importance of gratitude with a small book I picked up from a shelf at Target called "Daily Gratitudes." To be honest, I filled it out as a gigantic thank you for my boyfriend. I'm not a perfect person but he loves me just the same. Now that we will be in a year-round long distance relationship, I want him to have something to remind him of how special he really is. While filling out this journal, I learned more about myself and the many blessings around me than I expected; however, I truly appreciate noticing all of the many things to be grateful for.

"The real gift of gratitude is the more grateful you are, the more present you become." - Robert Holden