In all things we should try to make ourselves be as grateful as possible. For gratitude is a good thing for ourselves, in a manner in which justice, commonly held to belong to others, is not. Gratitude pays itself back in large measure.
—Seneca, Moral Letters, 81.19
Think of all the things you can be grateful for today. That you are alive, that you live in a time primarily of peace, that you have enough health and leisure to read this book. What of the little things? The person who smiled at you, the woman who held the door open, that song you like on the radio, the pleasant weather.
Gratitude is infectious. Its positivity is radiant.
Even if today was your last day on earth—if you knew in advance that it was going to end in a few short hours—would there still be plenty to be grateful for? How much better would your life be if you kicked off every day like that? If you let it carry through from morning to night and touch every part of your life?
* Source: The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman