There are two components to Gratitude. 

First, it’s an affirmation of goodness. We affirm that there are good things in the world, gifts and benefits we’ve received. This doesn’t mean that life is perfect; it doesn’t ignore complaints, burdens, and hassles. But when we look at life as a whole, gratitude encourages us to look for and find the goodness in our lives.

The second part of gratitude involves recognizing where that goodness comes from. We recognize the source/s of this goodness as being outside of ourselves. 

We can appreciate positive traits in ourselves, but true gratitude involves a humble dependence on others: We acknowledge that other people—or a Higher Power — have given us gifts, large and small, which helps us recognize the Goodness in our lives.

“Gratitude is a relationship-strengthening emotion,” writes Robert Emmons, “because it requires us to see how we’ve been supported and affirmed by other people.”  

Because gratitude encourages us not only to appreciate gifts but to repay them, or pay them forward, the sociologist Georg Simmel called it “the moral memory of mankind.” This is how gratitude may have evolved: by strengthening bonds between members of the same species who mutually helped each other out.

Numerous research studies are now showing that practicing Gratitude:

• Makes us happier
• Increases psychological well-being
• Enhances positive emotions
• Increases self-esteem
• Makes people like us
• Increases social support
• Improves friendships and family and romantic relationships
• Makes us more giving and more optimistic
• Enhances Spirituality
• Improves decision making
• Helps us find meaning in our work and our lives
• Reduces stress and improves work-related mental health
• Reduces depression and blood pressure
• Improves sleep
• Improves recovery from coronary health events
• Improves overall physical health.
   

This brief poem by Marshall Rosenberg, founder of NVC (Non-Violent Communication), beautifully captures the interplay between giving and receiving.

Giving and Receiving

I never feel more given to
Then when you take from me,
When you understand the joy I feel
In Giving and Caring for you.

And you know my giving isn't done
To put you in my debt,
But because I want to live the love
I feel for you.

To receive with grace
May be the greatest giving.
There is no way 
I can separate the two.

When you give to me
I give you my receiving
And when you receive from me
I feel so given to…..

Gratitude is an attitude.  When we shift our attitude from “Why me….?”” to “Gracias para mi vida….”  we change our minds, and our worlds; and the people around us change as well. 

Here's more about “Why Gratitude is Good”...

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_gratitude_is_good

https://positivepsychology.com/benefits-gratitude-research-questions

~ With gratitude to friend and colleague John Freedom for compiling this!