Somewhere along the line, I came to believe that gratitude is an action, but I couldn't understand what that action would or should be so I didn't try to practice it.  Then at The Aloha Roundup about 8 years ago, an old man, kind of a hippie, shared at a meeting that his program consisted only of practicing gratitude and I asked him how he did that.  He told me he simply thanked his HP for everything he experienced, the way he experienced it and regardless of the feelings.  He said he said thank you for everything he was conscious of and I was dumbfounded but immediately I started in earnest to try and express, whether I felt it or believed it or not, gratitude for everything I notice or am confronted with. It takes a lot of action to change our thinking, but by God my thinking started to change and the glass went from being half empty to half full.  I then emailed a gratitude list to my sponsor, sponsee's and other sober friends and they started sending me their gratitude lists every day.  Not only was I feeling more gratitude, but I started learning what the word practice actually means, because I was practicing gratitude as I believed I could.  At any rate, here is my gratitude list for today, right now.

I'm grateful:

To be alive, for my family, friends, health and home; for abundance in everything, for faith that works, for teachers and lessons, for becoming teachable, for SOBRIETY, for YOU, for the practice of becoming who I can be and want to be; for my senses and perceptions, for every drink and drug I consumed, for HIV, for AA, for LOVE and the desire to give it away; for sex, lust and all my assets and liabilities; for a process to come to acceptance; for hope, trust, acceptance, fear, solution that I believe in; for purpose, for usefulness, for service opportunities, my sponsors and sponsee's, for principles I can learn to practice, for change, for everything.  I'm also grateful for my car, for cash and prizes, for a touch of integrity, honesty, self esteem, humility and the joy of living.