Take a deep breath and think of the three things you are grateful for, right in this moment.

Eating healthy and exercising won't help you if it's only temporary.

Gratitude is the antidote to bitterness and resentment.

Gratitude is the realization that we have everything we need, at least in this moment.

At each level of gratitude our soul's capacity deepens, starting with contentment to meaningfulness, and finally, to pure joy.

I'm so happy that James Baraz's AWAKENING JOY class is now available in book form. His class has been helpful to thousands of people. I plan to give it to all my clients who are struggling with creating a life of meaning and happiness. Joyfulness is our birthright. This book shows you how to reclaim it.

People teach what they most need to learn.

Gratitude helps us to return to our natural state of joyfulness, where we notice what's right instead of what's wrong. It makes us feel complete, that we have everything we need, at least in this moment.

The choice is ours, in every moment.

In every single moment, we have the choice to be happy or not. No matter what is going on, we can choose to focus on what is right, what is good and whole in ourselves and our lives, and what options we have in any given situation. In other words, we can choose to be happy no matter what.

As any gardener will tell you, the cycles of nature require patience...Even a fast-growing vegetable like a radish requires time.

We can't wait until everything is OK-with us or with the rest of the world-to feel thankful, or we will never experience joy at all.

Wholeness invokes balance.

Patience is no small, fell-good personal quality. It is at the heart of diplomacy and civility, lawfulness and civil order. Without it, people can't work together and society can't function at all. With it, we create the possibility of peace between people and between nations.

Gratitude is a feeling of fullness, a recognition of the heart of what we are receiving in this moment.