There is no one, thorough definition for gratitude. It is a contextual word which has different meanings. It could be a feeling channeled towards others or towards yourself. It can be an attitude in response to some gesture done in good faith to either you by someone else or to someone by you, which in both cases a thank you are involved. Gratitude is the cura personalis.

Cura Personalis, a Latin word I heard from a speech by Father Fitzgerald, President of the University of San Francisco, meaning "care of the person," dealing with the tentative care of the individual by the individual to the individual and to other people. Acts of kindness performed toward oneself are gratitude to your individuality by either being authentic or acknowledging the talents and the recognition of the wonderful being you are, capable of happiness, critical thinking, love, joy, and reciprocating care toward others from which you get a thank you.

With the care of the person, you are able to find happiness and joy from uncommon places; this is called gratitude. Uncommon places such as a distant memory, the rain, the wind, the sun, trees and all elements of nature, from a dinner with a friend or from pain. Examples of gratitude include: being grateful for dinner with friends two weeks ago, grateful for waking up every morning: a reminder that I am one step closer to reaching my goal in life. It doesn’t have to be a grandiose event. The ability to be grateful offers an opportunity for enlightenment, recognition, happiness, a healing moment and a way to constantly grow. You might be curious as to how to practice gratitude to ourselves, to those we love, and to the community at large. Practicing gratitude can be done through journaling one event for which you are grateful for each day and by the end of the week going through the 7 days of events of gratitude.

The process of journaling has been helpful for me and I believe can be helpful for you. I implore you each day to write down what you are grateful for, it could be an element of your life, an event, something personal like an insult, or something in nature. When I say insult, you may think I'm nuts, how can someone be grateful to another for an insult. An insult is an opportunity to reassess yourself critically, find out if the insult checks out if it does be grateful to the insulter and check if changing this aspect of you is authentic to yourself. Or not. Something personal about you could be a family member who you are grateful for something done towards you but have not openly expressed gratitude, now is the time.

For David Steindl-Rast, a longtime practitioner of gratitude through grateful living, grateful living is a way of life which asks us to notice all that is already present and abundant – from the tiniest things of beauty to the grandest of our blessings – and in so doing, to take nothing for granted. We can learn to focus our attention on, and acknowledge that life is a gift. According to David Steindl-Rast, grateful living practices have three simple steps:
STOP – become present, awake, aware, receptive
LOOK – notice, observe, consider, have a direct experience
GO – acknowledge, take action, do something with the opportunity and awareness which gratefulness offers you

http://www.gratefulness.org/

What am I grateful for?
Grateful for the rich and diverse morning air I breathe in on a daily basis which I know is a hassle for some people in places around the world.

Grateful to call the University of San Francisco home.

Grateful for the comrades I have crossed paths with who right now are separated by miles.

I am grateful for the crisp midday rain gifted by the El Nino reminding me that there is hope.

I am grateful for the couple I just saw fighting on my way to work but smiling few seconds later, reminding me that forgiveness is possible.

I am grateful to the people I call brothers, to the Dons I have met, we have all made a donation in each other’s lives leaving it better than before.

What are you grateful ?