When we experience gratitude we open our hearts and minds and counteract the contraction of fear and doubt.  A gratitude practice is a very useful tool.  It is human nature not to pay attention to the good things in our life and to take them for granted; a daily review of the things for which we are grateful can help to refocus our attention and help us to build the positive attitude that is the foundation of transmuting the base metal of our life into the gold of transformation and actualization.  

Marcus Tulius Cicero said, back in ancient Rome, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others.”  Gratitude for what we are given is the single key that turns prosperity and wealth into a true experience of abundance.  

Gratitude is an emotion that is felt primarily in the heart center.  On a mundane level a practice of gratitude helps us to maintain perspective about our lives.  On a more esoteric level, gratitude opens the heart center which helps us to ascend from the ego into an experience of divine love and consciousness.  This openness helps to unlock the blocks of fear which opens the door to transformation. 

Gratitude also helps us to expand beyond judgment and restriction.  When we approach the experiences of our life with a sense of gratitude, it becomes much easier for us to see every experience as an opportunity for growth and transformation rather than a burden.  It is impossible to be a victim when we are grateful for what we have been given.