How many times do we march through life without noticing all the blessings that surround us? Sometimes we go days and weeks without thinking, even for a moment, about all the wonderful, amazing parts of our lives.

On the other hand, we certainly seem to have no problem noticing all of the problems and disappointments that surround us. And we remember each and every one of these problems in excruciating detail. Our problems are rarely overlooked or forgotten.

But, noticing all of the beautiful and wonderful parts of our lives is something that we tend to forget. How interesting...

We are livid about the long line at the grocery store. We rant and rave that we can't find a parking place. And those stupid drivers that pull out right in front of us...the blood begins to boil just thinking about it! Sometimes it seems like we're cursed. And complaining is the only thing to do. In fact, there's probably nothing that we do better.

But, what about all the blessings in our lives? Why don't we ever take the time to truly notice all of the small joys in our day?

We have gotten into bad habits. We have conditioned our minds to notice all the problems that we face. And we have conditioned our minds to simply take for granted the blessings and small satisfactions in our lives. And like most habits, this one can be broken. There are concrete ways to bring more gratitude into your life. And even better, as you bring more gratitude into your life, you will notice that there are indeed countless blessings all around you.

There was an amazing study conducted by Emmons and McCollough on gratitude. They essentially proved that gratitude can be learned. They had a control group write down simple things that they were grateful for every single day for three weeks.

The results were astounding! Of course everyone in the study felt a deeper sense of gratefulness for all that was in their lives. But, there were so many other, wonderful side effects from this experiment. Each person in the study noticed an increase in the following areas of their life:

- Optimism - Achievement of goals - Alertness - Enthusiasm - Contentment - Better sleep

Each person in the study noticed a decrease in these following areas of their life:

- Sadness - Anger - Bitterness - Jealousy - Lethargy - Boredom

This study made two important discoveries. First of all, the whole area of gratitude can be learned. It is not just something that you are born with. It is not just something that you either have or you don't. You can easily learn to add gratitude to your life.

Another important discovery is that gratitude produces so many additional positive results in your life. The effects of adding a grateful attitude to your life will multiply your happiness tenfold!

Most importantly, gratitude will change your outlook on life. Instead of focusing on the negative parts of your life, you will begin to retrain your mind. Dwelling on gratitude will begin to literally reverse your thinking. Instead of simply noticing the rude driver that cut you off, you will focus on the beautiful, sunny day. And instead of fuming that there isn't a close parking place, you will enjoy a brisk walk into the store. And you may even exchange a friendly "hello" with someone on your way. The point is that you will soon feel the benefits of noticing all of the beauty that is constantly a part of your life when gratitude is embedded in your thinking.

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