One can learn to focus on "opportunity" as the gift within every given moment. This attitude towards life always improves the situation. Even in times of sickness, someone who habitually practices grateful living will look for the opportunity that a given moment offers and use it creatively.

What brings fulfillment is gratefulness, the simple response of our heart to this life in all its fullness.

Gratitude is here presented as more than a feeling, a virtue, or an experience; gratitude emerges as an attitude we can freely choose in order to create a better life for ourselves and for others. The Nigerian Hausa put it this way: Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot.

The universe is gratis. It cannot be earned, nor need it be earned.

A lifetime may not be long enough to attune ourselves fully to the harmony of the universe. But just to become aware that we can resonate with it -- that alone can be like waking up from a dream.

By looking up, by raising our eyes above our limited horizon, we are more likely to perceive the blessings hidden in affliction.

The hope that is left after all your hopes are gone - that is pure hope, rooted in the heart.