This time of year our thoughts turn to things to be grateful for and for ways to express it. We have Thanksgiving or what I like to call Gratitude Day where we have a chance to gather and appreciate the friends, family and the blessings around us. It’s a day that we mark out once a year. In Bali, this ritual of gratitude is a daily occurrence.

When I traveled there for a writing assignment in September, I was delighted to see that a woman or man would go around the hotel and leave small dishes of woven grass or banana leaf filled with beautiful flowers and a small amount of rice at temples and thresholds. These offerings, along with prayers and incense were made everyday as ways to say thank you to Nature. Shop owners and almost everyone made these offerings. To me it was such a beautiful and humble expression of our connectedness with life and a way to say “thank you” to nature and to the Divine Energy that is within and around all of us.

Imagine if everyday we would remember just for a moment to be thankful. When we go deep and really awaken to all the beauty and love around us life becomes rich and vibrant. Even difficult times become opportunities. What kind of ritual of gratitude would you like to create to celebrate the gifts of your life?  I like lunch time pauses as a time to say “thank you.” It only takes a moment.

Bio: Debra Moffitt is author of Awake in the World: 108 Practices to Live a Divinely Inspired Life. A visionary, dreamer and teacher, she’s devoted to nurturing the spiritual in everyday life. She leads workshops on spiritual practices at the Sophia Institute and other venues in the U.S. and Europe. Her mind/body/spirit articles, essays and stories appear in publications around the globe and were broadcast by BBC World Services Radio. She has spent over fifteen years practicing meditation, working with dreams and doing spiritual practices. Visit her online at http://www.awakeintheworld.com.